Baby Blues
by lovelikeher
Summary: Jay and Abi aren't ready to have a baby. But it's a little too late for 'ready' when the test comes back positive...
1. Chapter 1

a/n: there's not enough eastenders fanfiction in this world, especially jay/abi. so here we are.

"_I think I'm pregnant."_

She hadn't been able to look him in the eye ever since those life-altering words had fallen from her lips. That had been yesterday, and they hadn't even spoke since she'd walked away after dropping that bombshell on him. The others had returned and she'd avoided him all night; by the time he'd joined her in bed, she'd pretended to be asleep and eventually woke to an empty bed. That didn't stop him from calling her constantly, even if those calls had gone unanswered. Now, they were left alone.

She didn't know what to do, or say. But she did know that she couldn't avoid him forever though she was planning on doing so for as long as possible. Not that it lasted long; he caught her up to her a lot quicker than she was hoping. She needed time, couldn't he say that? She couldn't have a baby! Abi was the sensible one, the one who was supposed to go far and do great things. None of that included being a teen mother. Her parents would kill her, she would have to give up everything that she'd been working for - maybe she was getting ahead of herself, but she couldn't help it. The very second she'd realized just how late she was, her mind had flooded with all those dreams crashing around her. She didn't want to be stuck in Walford for the rest of her life, working some dead-end job that she hated, all because of a mistake she made as a teenager. And she couldn't even bear to think about the effect it could potentially have on her relationship with Jay.

They had to talk, she knew that. She didn't even know what he was thinking. Would he want her to keep it? Or would he run for the hills? No, she knew he would never do that. Jay would never leave her to get through this on her own. But that didn't seem to make it any easier. He had no reason to leave her anyway; if she was pregnant, she knew that she wouldn't keep it. There was no way.

And it wasn't just because of her dreams. Of course, her future was a huge part of that decision, but what could they offer a child? Nothing. They were just kids themselves! They both still lived with their families, and sure he had a job, but that wasn't going to be enough for them to give their baby the life it would deserve. She wanted kids, with Jay of course, but not like this. She wanted to be married, with a nice house and a decent job - she wanted to be settled, which was something she never was as a child. Her parents ripped into each other constantly, neither of them were ever truly happy, no matter what they said. It was affair after affair, lie after lie. And Abi firmly believed that it was all because they started too young. Her mother was just older than Abi is now when she had her first kid, and looked how that worked out for her. Lauren was an alcoholic and her (ex)husband was an accidental-almost-bigamist. And she didn't want that kind of life.

A couple of hours later, she had the pregnancy test in hand. It was almost funny, she thought, how a little white stick could change your life in a matter of minutes. Perhaps she would have found it within herself to laugh if it weren't for the conversation she'd just had. She could barely believe the way that he'd gone on about being a father, as if this was something that he'd been wanting! She'd expected her to be supportive if she decided to keep it, but for him to actually _want _this? For him to get angry when she implied that she _didn't _want it? It was insane. Clearly, he wasn't thinking straight if he thought they would be able to raise a child. She was seventeen year old, for crying out loud! They were both still teenagers, they couldn't provide for a kid. More importantly, they couldn't be happy whilst raising a kid…

….. _Could _they?

No. No, of course not. That was a ridiculous thought. She was just second-guessing herself now, that's all. Sure, Jay would say now that he wouldn't walk out on her and this baby. But how he could be certain? He didn't know how he would feel about her a few years down the line, especially with a baby in tow. A baby changed things; they wouldn't be their own people anymore. She would be someone's mother, he would be someone's father. That baby would rely on nobody but them. Neither of them were ready for that kind of responsibility, or commitment. Even if he had proposed to her when she fifteen, but that's a different story. They weren't ready for this.

All the thoughts in her head were making these four minutes the worst of her life. She knew Jay was still waiting outside which, actually, helped comfort her a lot. Knowing that he was probably feeling the same as she was right now, but the conversation they would have to have after? She wasn't looking forward to it, no matter the result.

The result that she could only pray was negative.

Knowing that Jay was probably praying for the exact opposite of that stripped all of that comfort away.

Whatever the result of this test, how were they going to get through this? She didn't think her aborting their baby without his approval would improve their relationship. And, keeping the baby? Wasn't even an option. If this test was negative, all of that would still be out in the open. They were living in two separate worlds; she was facing reality and he was in a dreamland, as far as she was concerned.

Her train of thought was lost when her phone buzzed, the timer signaling that it was time. She took a deep breath, fighting back the urge to cry. The tears could wait until after she knew. Picking up the white stick, her heart was in her throat as she turned it over.

_** Positive**_.


	2. Chapter 2

Jay didn't even know how long he'd been waiting outside, sat on the solid tree stump. His heart was practically pounding out of his body, knowing that his life could possibly change forever within the next few minutes.

He'd considered getting up and going to check on Abi a few times, but he didn't want to seem like he was rushing her. As much as he wanted to know the result, he knew that they wanted completely different things.

He wanted this baby. He would love it, take care of it; this baby would be the world to him.

But to Abi, it would be a nightmare.

And, honestly, that scared him just as much as the idea of a baby did. Which might sound ridiculous, but he couldn't help it. She would terminate their baby - without so much as a second thought.

He knew that he would just have to deal with it, if that was what she wanted. Not that she would go through with it. There's no way she would be able to do that.

At least, he didn't think she would. But he didn't seem to know her at all anymore. And she didn't seem to know him either. He would never walk out on her and the baby, never! No matter what happened, he would never just abandon her.

Not to mention the fact that she expected him to be okay if she aborted this baby.

He didn't know if there even was a baby yet, for crying out loud. How long did it take to take a pregnancy test? She'd been in there for at least 15 minutes. Surely it didn't take that long to pee on a stick?

As if perfectly on cue, he heard a door shut and looked up to see her coming towards him. Her eyes were puffy, her make-up was stained and blotchy; she'd been crying. Sobbing her heart out by the looks of things.

Immediately, he stood up and quickly approached her. When she didn't say anything, he raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

Before he knew it, she shoved the pregnancy test into his hand.

"Congratulations, _Daddy_."

She said it with such spite and malice that he barely recognized her. And just like that, she was walking away. But all he could focus on as he looked down at the stick was that one word.

... Daddy.

* * *

><p>She didn't think she had any more tears left to cry. But apparently, she thought wrong because all she could do as she walked away was cry.<p>

As soon as she'd seen the result, her body had been wracked with uncontrollable sobs. She wanted Jay; she wanted his comforting arms and words of reassurance, but she couldn't bring herself to leave the cubicle. She knew what he would say - it was a good thing, the best thing, he would say. And she would have to break his heart. She would have to shatter his good, kind, beautiful heart into a million pieces. All because she was too much of a coward, a selfish one at that, to give up on everything she'd wanted for so long.

She was terrified, period. She couldn't even look her boyfriend in the eye as she handed him proof of their situation. God, she couldn't even say the words out loud! And he was going to hate her.

The love of her life was going to hate her.

The realization only made her tears fall down her cheeks even quicker. Overwhelmed by everything she was feeling, she fell back against the nearest tree and slid to the ground. To hell with her light dress.

Jay hadn't come after her, and she honestly couldn't blame him. They both knew what the other was thinking, and they both hated it. No doubt he would try to convince her to keep it, - and she knew that he would be able to. She was weak, especially with him. She knew that all those doubts would go away, that she would be blinded of a happy life with him. And she couldn't let that happen.

She had to be the good one. The sensible one; the sister with her head screwed on. Her parents couldn't deal with an alcoholic and a teenage mother for daughters. Lauren was the one who made mistakes, not Abi. This wasn't supposed to happen to her! She was going to Uni, she was going to be a vet and she was going to give her parents a daughter to proud of.

They wouldn't be proud of a tart.

But she could make this all go away, just by a quick trip to the clinic. That's all it would take; her future would be fine and her parents would forget all about it. They didn't even need to find out; nobody did.

Apart from Jay. What would this do to them? Would he really hate her? Even if he didn't, this will undoubtedly have an effect on their relationship. It was clear that they wanted different things - for now, at least. Of course, in the future, she would want to be with him. She'd love for them to have a family together. A house full of puffy-faced, freckled, redheaded babies. She would love that, of course she would. But not now, not yet.

Maybe he was right. Obviously the universe had other plans for them.

This could tear them apart, and she wasn't ready to lose him. Because she would, wouldn't she? If she got rid of this baby, that would be the end. He would never forgive her, no matter how hard he tried. Things would never go back to normal.

But normal wasn't even an option if she kept the baby.

The baby. _Their _baby. She couldn't help but smile at the thought. It was a crazy thought, but she couldn't deny that it was a nice thought. But… in the future. It was a thought for the future, not for now. They weren't ready! Not to even mention the fact that her parents would kill the both of them.

Maybe they could do it. _Maybe_ this baby would be the best thing that would ever happen to them. But she couldn't just go on maybes. Because maybe he would fall out of love with her; maybe he would end up hating her one day. Who was she to know?

Jay gave her hope. He did. But she'd seen her parents go up and down for years, and she knew that every time her mother had a hint of hope that things would change - it wouldn't. And she didn't want to be her mother. She couldn't be her mother, she couldn't!

But could she be _a_ mother? A _good _mother? She wants to think that she would be. She would love her baby, but a baby needed more than love. It needed security. It needed a roof over it's head, food on the table….could she give it that?

Jay thinks they could. But she was living in the real world and she knew it wouldn't be as easy as he was trying to make out. It would be so hard but he didn't seem to see it that way.

It was the buzzing of her phone that broke her out of her thoughts.

_**Lola calling.**_

She didn't realize that she'd hoped it was Jay until she saw that it wasn't. He couldn't even be bothered to call her after the bombshell she'd literally dropped into his hands. And he wanted her to believe they could raise a baby together?

A few seconds passed before she rejected her best friend's call. She couldn't talk to her right now. It would probably about the missing money anyway and she had better things to think about.

The phone buzzed again, just seconds later.

_**Lola calling.**_

She sighed, rejecting the call again and switching her phone off before wiping at the dried tears against her skin before she walked in the opposite direction of the caravan. She couldn't face any of them. All the arguing wasn't something she wanted to deal with. So much for a fun holiday, she thought.

It was an hour later when she heard Dexter calling out her name. She'd ended up at the lake, and had just sat there ever since. It was peaceful and she'd had time to get her head together without anyone else's input. As much as she loved Jay, she had to think about herself as well as him and their baby.

Their baby. Even in her head, it had began to sound right. Clearly, she'd lost her mind.

"Abs! There you are. We've been lookin' all over for you, cuz. What are you doing down here?" Dexter questioned, now right next to her.

"...Abs?" He spoke again, when she didn't bother to answer him.

The blonde put on her best fake smile as she glanced up at him. "Just… enjoying the quiet."

"Abi, come on, you know I'm sorry about what I sa-"

"I know, Dext. I know." She interrupted, not in the mood for a half-assed apology. She stood up, wiping down her dress and flashing him another forced smile. "What's going on"?

"Have you seen Jay?"

Her heart stopped.

"Uh….No. No, not since…..Not since earlier."

"Well, can you call him? He's not answering me."

"Doubt he'd answer me right now either." She shrugged, causing her cousin to sigh. She didn't appreciate the pity in his eyes.

"Look, Abi….Whatever you two are going through right now, you'll get through it."

"I don't kn-"

"I do know. You're Jay and Abi, alright? You're always going to be Jay and Abi. That's, like, written in stone somewhere. So get it together because I need my friends, yeah?"

This time, it was a true smile that spread across her features. Albeit a sad one, but still. Dexter's words gave her a little more faith in everything.

"Yeah... Hasn't he come back to the caravan?"

"Not since you both stormed off earlier, no."

"Oh….Have you, uh, checked everywhere? The pub?"

"The pub! I'll go check now. Give him a call and let me know though, okay?"

"Okay." And with that, he left and she was alone again. She wondered where he was...He'd probably just gone to get some alone time like she had. She saw no reason why he would go to the pub, but at least it got Dexter off her case for a bit.

She pulled out her phone, switching it back on. More missed calls from Lola, texts from Dexter...nothing from the one person she wanted more than anything at that moment. She let out a sigh, before opening a new text.

_**I'm an idiot. x**_

…..No signal. Brilliant.

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><p>Not too much happening in this chapter, but things are definitely about to spice up;) Make sure to follow, favourite, andor review! Much appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

"Abi! Finally, I've been calling you non-stop."

Abi had returned to the caravan, once she'd calmed herself down. She didn't need Lola figuring out something was up until she was ready to tell her. Right now, her and Jay were the only people who needed to know.

Where was he, anyway? She was expecting him to be here, but it looked like it was just Lola.

"Yeah, sorry, my phone died." She lied with a shrug. "Where is everyone?"

"Cindy and Peter went to the shop, Dext went to find you and Jay."

"Well, he found me..."

"Jay's not with you? Where is he?"

Abi just shrugged, feeling the tears forming behind her eyes. They'd just found out that she was pregnant and he'd gone and disappeared.

"...Is everything okay, Abs?"

She blinked her tears back, forcing a smile. "Fine. Everything's fine..I'm gonna go shower."

And without another word, ignoring Lola confusedly calling her back, she locked herself in the small bathroom.

Where she could cry. Again.

She quickly started the shower up and undressed. Within seconds, she was standing under the water. The tears she'd been holding back were now freely running down her face. Her poor mascara really had been through it today, she thought.

Wiping her tears away, or at least trying to, she managed to catch her breath. She had to pull herself together; crying all the time was going to do nobody any good. Glancing down to reach for the shampoo, she suddenly imagined herself with a bump. That was when it hit her. This was actually real; it was actually happening.

Whether she liked it or not, this was _their _child. Her and Jay's. Could she really be the one to put a stop to that before it even began? Sure, it would be hard. It would be so, so, so hard. It could be the worst thing that had ever happened to them. But….but it could also be the best thing. It could be the best thing in the world. And she didn't have to go to university, not straight away. Plenty of people take time out, gap years and what not, so she could take a few years off to raise their baby. Then she could back, finish her education, and become a vet. After all, what was the rush?

Her priorities were quickly changing, the more she thought about it. Which was scary, because all she'd ever dreamt of was being a vet. That was it for her and now… now, all of a sudden, this one little thing happened and all that had changed. It didn't seem as important anymore.

She must have spent a good half hour in the shower, her mind running wild with what could be. When she'd first realized she could be pregnant, she saw no other option than getting rid of it. But now she didn't know what she was going to do.

After getting herself changed into a comfy pair of leggings and a loose jumper, she quickly dried her hair before shoving it up in a messy ponytail. Once she'd re-applied some light make up, she went back to join Lola in the sitting area. Her best friend was busy talking to Peter, and Abi assumed from the music coming from one of the bedrooms that Cindy was back too. But there was no sign of Jay or Dexter, which caused her to frown.

"Alright, Abs?" Lola's soft voice, filled with underlying concern and apprehension, snapped her out of her thoughts.

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm….I'm fine. Is Jay not back?"

"He's outside with Dexter." Peter answered.

She forced herself to smile, sucking in a breath before heading out the door where she found Dexter and Jay sitting the patio. They were obviously talking about something, but had both gone silent when they turned and saw her.

"Jay, have you got a minute?" She asked immediately, forcing the words from her mouth.

"Actually, we were just going to the office. See if any other 'vans have been burgled." He stood, not bothering to look at her which caused her heart to drop. She noticed Dexter sent him a disapproving glare, but she couldn't put her finger on why he would do so. Unless Jay….unless he'd told him.

"That's a good idea, I'll come too." Peter's voice startled her slightly, and she turned to see him and Lola stood in the doorway behind her. As Peter passed her, she blinked back the tears that stung behind her eyelids which didn't stop Lola's worried glances at all.

There wasn't another word said before the three boys had walked off. Once they were out of hearing distance, Lola was by her side.

"Right, what's goin' on?"

She turned to her, meeting her best friend's eyes and bursting into tears. Lola's arms were around her within seconds, soothingly mumbling words of comfort.

"I messed up, Lo. I really messed up!"

Lola led her back inside, and the two of them sat down as she continued to sob into the other blonde's shoulder. Jay wouldn't even look at her now. How was she supposed to make things right unless he'd listen to her? How were they supposed to get through this if it wasn't together? She needed him and all he could do was give her the silent treatment because she'd panicked and didn't think everything through properly.

They were turning out to be _great _parents already.

Once she eventually ran out of tears to cry, she took a sip of the water Lola had got for her. She was sitting there patiently waiting for her to admit what was causing her to be in such a state, and just when they both thought she was going to talk, Cindy came out of the bedroom.

"...Woah. What's going on?"

"Get out of here, Cindy!" Lola shouted in frustration.

"What? Where are the guys?"

"Office. Now go."

"Where am I supposed to go exactly?"

"Anywhere!"

And with that, the younger brunette had huffed and stormed out of the caravan.

"Right...Now that _she's _out of the way, are you going to tell me what's the hell's going on?"

Abi sucked in a breath, her bottom lip quivering. "I'm pregnant."

"What?! Oh my God, Abs.."

"And now….Jay won't even talk to me and…"

"That's why he's havin' a pout?! The little prat!"

"No, he's…._having a pout _because I said I'd…."

"...Said you'd what?"

"Have an abortion."

Lola went silent, letting out a sympathetic sigh after a moment. Abi wasn't sure she even wanted to know what her friend was thinking, but she only hoped she would be understanding with being a young mum herself. But she knew that Lola had never even considered an abortion when she found out she was pregnant with Lexi, and that she'd gotten angry whenever someone so much as implied that she should have.

"Well….if you're sure that's what you want, Abs, he has to accept it."

Despite Lola's words, she couldn't help but wonder if she genuinely thought that or if she was just saying so. With all the doubts and second thoughts floating around in her head at the moment, it was hard to recognize how she actually felt.

"...You think I'm a horrible person, don't you?!"

"No! No, no, of course not. Look, you know how much I adore Lexi. I wouldn't change her for the world, she's….she's the best thing in my life and if someone gave me the chance to go back? Never sleep with Ben, or get an abortion, whatever? I wouldn't even consider it. But it's your decision, Abi. You're the one who's going to have to carry it for nine months, give birth, live with the judgemental looks from old ladies..That's all you, not Jay. Of course he should have a say, and you guys need to talk about this properly but… but at the end of the day, I'll support you whatever you choose. And I _know _that Jay will too."

Abi didn't say anything. It was times like this that she was glad she had Lola by her side. If anyone was going to be able to give her a real view on how hard motherhood could be, it would be Lola. And yet, it was so obvious that Lexi to everything to her despite how much she'd struggled. Abi would like to think that she would, too. She would have support in Jay, Lola, Lauren, her family...Jay had a steady job, and she could get one when the time was right. They could do this, couldn't they? And they _would _be okay.

"So… are you _sure _you want an abortion?"

"...No."

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><p>Next chapter is Jay's side of things, and that should be posted sooner rather than later! Make sure to review, follow, favourite...Let me know what you think:)<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Abi never thought she'd be so happy to see Walford. But the holiday had pretty much been the holiday from hell.

Not too long after her conversation with Lola, the boys had returned with the news that none of the other caravans had been robbed. Which led Cindy to the conclusion that Kitty and her Dad had stolen the money. And that was how they ended up stealing back the car they were supposed to have sold.

It was a welcome distraction, that would slip away whenever Jay avoided talking to her. How were they supposed to work things out if he wouldn't even look at her? So much for getting through this together.

But now they were home and it suddenly felt all too real. Phil Mitchell was glaring at them, demanding to talk to Jay and Dexter, so she took the opportunity to slip away whilst Lola talked to (see: flirted with) Peter. Deciding she couldn't face going home, knowing her Dad and Lauren would probably be there. She hadn't quite figured out how she was going to keep the truth from them yet.

Instead of making her way to the Branning residence, she headed towards the square. And suddenly, she was fourteen again and sitting on a bench falling for a boy eating half of the chippy. She didn't even know that she was falling for him. But it was the first time she'd properly _seen _him and she never wants to forget that feeling. That, suddenly, Ben's not-brother was more than that. He was _Jay_. And it didn't take long for _**Jay **_to be all she ever wanted. All she would ever want.

She was suddenly overwhelmed as it hit her that she wasn't fourteen with a crush on a boy a little older than her anymore; she was seventeen and pregnant with his baby. She sat on the bench, taking a deep breath. Her mind went back to her conversation with Lola. Her friend had urged her to talk to Jay, but the longer he ignored her, the harder it seemed to get. And she knew he'd gotten her text, he'd just chose to dismiss it and then her. She couldn't even speak to him last night; she knew he wasn't really asleep but she just couldn't bring herself to try and talk to him. So she'd turned over so that her back was to his, and tried to fall asleep. She wasn't sure if she had slept at all, honestly. But they were home now, and that would undoubtedly make it easier for the two of them to avoid each other.

But she couldn't let that happen. She couldn't let them fall apart over this - she needed him now more than ever! It wasn't her fault he was a stubborn so and so who couldn't take an apology. Even if said apology had been over text. But, if text was the only way to get through to him, then that was she was going to have to do. She sighed, pulling out her phone.

_Come over later, we need 2 talk. _

She hesitated.

_Come over later, we need 2 talk…..I love you. x_

**MESSAGE SENT; Jay**

* * *

><p>He heard his phone buzzing in his pocket, notifying him of a text, but it was drowned out by Phil and Dexter's screaming. He had better things to worry about than Phil's money and, as far as he was concerned, it was all Dexter's fault anyway. He wasn't really sure how yet, but even if he did, he couldn't exactly pin it on him. Not when he knew what he knew.<p>

After avoiding Abi since she'd walked away from him, all he'd felt was guilt. He'd gone to the pub just to clear his head, give her some space….he hadn't indented for anything to happen. He was upset - she was going to get rid of their kid, for crying out loud! Didn't he have a right to be upset about that? And the fact that she assumed he would be okay with it…..It killed him.

Now, he knew that he just should have gone after her. Because, after that, he could barely look her in the eye. Not because of what she'd said, but because of what he'd _done_. It was his own guilt that was killing him now. And he knew how wrong it was to take that out on her, he knew that she probably thought he was putting her off because of the pregnancy. But what difference did it make, really? She wasn't keeping it. They'd obviously have to talk about it sooner or later, but… even if he didn't think she would go through with it, he also knew that when she had her mind set on something, that was that. Before all of this, he thought he knew her so well. Maybe she would prove him wrong in the worst way possible.

Once Phil had let them go, Dexter was rambling on about it and Jay wasn't sure what had even just had happened. All he could think about was her.

He loved her more than anything. Knew her better than anyone, trusted her with his life. And all he wanted was to make her happy. To love her, protect her, for as long as she would let him do so. He couldn't lose her. Especially not because he was a stubborn idiot.

But what could he do? He couldn't be okay with her having an abortion. And he'd made a huge, huge, mistake. Two wrongs don't make a right - he definitely understands that now. He would just have to pull himself together and move on. She never had to find out and he...he'd have to find a way to understand her.

"Jay? Jay, bruv, are you even listening?"

"I seriously have bigger things to worry about, Dext."

"Jay, I -"

"Just leave it, yeah?"

And with that, he stormed off home. His head was all over the place and, frankly, he didn't care about Phil's stupid money. He needed to talk to Abi.

As he fell onto the sofa, he sighed and pulled his phone from his pocket. Two missed calls and a text from Abi.

He frowned; he couldn't wait for later. But he couldn't go see her in the state they were both in.

* * *

><p>Abi had fallen asleep as she'd got home and shut herself away in her room. She was exhausted, physically and mentally. The past few days had been an emotional rollercoaster. Maybe the hormones were taking over already.<p>

When she woke up a few hours later, the first thing she did was check her phone. Nothing. Apparently, they still weren't talking.

But actual sleep had refreshed her, and she wasn't about to let this go. She forced herself up off the bed and called Jay, praying he'd pick up.

"Hiya."

"...Seriously? That's all you have to say to me? Didn't you get my messages?"

"I got them..I'm sorry for being so daft."

"I reckon we were both pretty daft..." When there was nothing but silence, she continued. "_Please_ come over."

"Are we gonna actually talk this time or are you just gonna lose your 'ed?"

"Well, I **_am_ **pregnant."

Jay laughed, but it was the voice behind her that stole her attention.

"- You're _what_?!"

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><p>Short chapter, but who do you think overheard!? Let me know by leaving a review!<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

"...Jay, I'm gonna have to call you back."

He started to confusedly protest, but the blonde had already hung up. All she could focus on was the person stood before her.

"Lauren, I..."

"You're **_pregnant_**?!"

The shock was clearly written all over her sister's face, as her eyebrows furrowed and her lips parted. Who could blame her, really? She'd just overheard her little sister tell her boyfriend she was pregnant.

This wasn't supposed to happen yet; nobody could know, not yet. Not until….not until she was ready. And she _definitely_ wasn't ready.

But Lauren was clearly expecting an answer. So, somehow, she summoned up some courage for once and answered her.

"Yes." She answered simply, swallowing away the thick lump in her throat. She hadn't even thought about how Lauren would react; she'd been worrying about her parents, her Dad in particular, but she hadn't given anyone else a second thought.

"...Oh, _Abi_," the older girl sighed, running a hand through her long brunette locks. She shook her head, speaking up again when Abi didn't say anything. "Who knows?"

"Just Jay and Lola. And...well, now you," she answered, before suddenly panicking. "Lauren, you - you can't tell anyone. You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone."

"You mean Dad?"

"I….." she stuttered, knowing in the back of her mind that was what she was truly scared of. She'd always been the one he was proud of; the idea of him being disappointed in her, disgusted even, made her stomach turn. "I mean anyone."

She was met with nothing but silence, as she started to panic.

"Lauren, please-"

"It's okay, I won't tell anyone. I promise I won't tell anyone."

A sense of relief washed over her, and she sighed. "Thank you."

"So….you're keeping it?" Lauren asked, hesitantly.

Abi nodded, her lips pulling up into a soft smile. "I'm keeping it."

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><p>It had been almost an hour since she'd hung up on him. Which had confused him..she seemed calmer on the phone. As if she'd let it sink in and was prepared to talk it out before making any rash decisions that couldn't be undone.<p>

He heard a knock on his door, instantly jumping up to answer it. When he saw it was her, he sighed in relief. Abi Branning was going to be the death of him, he swore it.

"Hey you," he greeted softly, as she took him by surprise and flung her arms around him. "Hey, _hey_, you alright?"

She pulled back, and he could tell she'd been crying yet her smile was genuine. Okay, _**now** _he was confused.

"You **really** want this baby?" She asked.

"Well yeah of course, but only if you want i-"

"Then we're having a baby."

* * *

><p>A few hours had passed since Abi had shown up at the B&amp;B with that revelation. Jay, obviously, was over the moon and Abi had come round to the idea. But she wasn't stupid; she knew that it wasn't going to be sunshine and daisies. And this? This was just the start. But a part of her was…excited. It wasn't happening the way she planned it, but this was their future. Her, Jay, and their baby. Their <strong><span>family<span>**.

She knew now that this was what she wanted. As she laid there with him, he knew that it was all she would ever want. No matter what anyone else would say. And, well, she was sure someone would have something to say. But she didn't care - all she cared about was right there in that bed.

"What are you thinking about?"

His voice broke through her train of thought, causing her to look up at him with a loving smile.

"You…..Us." She replied gently, pushing herself up off his chest. When he raised his eyebrow in question, she continued with a soft whisper. "Our baby."

She didn't think she'd ever get over the way he smiled at those words. It might have been silly, but it made her heart flutter. Yet again, he didn't have to try very hard to do that, did he? It had been the same when they first started seeing each other and it had never gone away. Maybe one day it would, she didn't know. But she wasn't worrying about the future now; as far as she was concerned, in that moment, everything was perfect.

"Our baby." He repeated, leaning up to press his lips against hers. "You're sure about this, right?"

She nodded - she'd never been so sure about anything. It was her conversation with Lauren that made her realize that, finally, she had something good. Initially, she'd been worried about ending up exactly like her parents but she knew that wouldn't happen. Her and Jay were nothing like her parent; plenty of people had kids young and stuck together, didn't they? Even if they didn't, she knew that the two of them could (and would) be the exception.

"You know Lauren's right... we're going to have to tell your Dad.."

"I know." She stopped him. She couldn't think about that right now. "I just…not yet. Lauren knows, so does Lola. Nobody else needs to know yet."

"Dexter knows too." He added, apologetically.

"Oh, well, some secret this is turning out to be!" She rolled her eyes, before laughing. She didn't have it in her to be mad at him; in all fairness, she had told Lola. "Nobody else, promise?"

"Promise." He smiled, which she automatically returned. "We should probably go to the Doctors..you know, to make sure and stuff."

"I'll call and arrange it tomorrow," she laughed affectionately, before leaning over to kiss him once more.

"And we're going to have to find a place to live because, well, we can't live here and there's no way your Dad will let me move in.."

"Jay-"

"I'll pick up extra shifts at the Arches, get some extra cash for a deposit.."

"Jay, one thing at a time." She interrupted him, talking again before he could. "We'll figure it out, you said so yourself. Just let yourself be happy before we have to think about it, okay?"

"Yeah...Yeah, you're right. Nothing's going to ruin this." He replied, as she curled herself back onto his chest. Luckily, she didn't notice the guilt in his eyes as he spoke.

* * *

><p>an: welp, it's been a while and this is short but you'll get the next chapter sooner - i've already started it;) please drop me a review, whether you love it or hate it, it means a lot to know people are actually reading this!


	6. Chapter 6

"We are not naming our child after a West Ham player, Jay!"

"Why not? So much for open-minded, babe."

She laughed, playfully rolling her eyes as she turned to gaze out of the car window. The two of them had just come from their appointment with the midwife - they'd opted out of going to the GP, since it was on the square and far too likely that someone would see them. So, she found a community clinic and a week later they'd got an appointment.

It was exciting, but of course she was nervous too. After all, she didn't know what to expect and she'd never liked that. With her family, she'd learned to always expect the unexpected - and it was never a good thing.

But this was different. This was good. It was her new family.

It felt real now. She'd done another two tests over the week, and established that neither of them had a shred of patience, so they were sure beforehand, but going to see a midwife... It was suddenly very confirmed. She was pregnant, this was happening.

Jay was ecstatic, it didn't take a genius to figure that one out. He would bring it up every chance he got, it was cute. As long as he didn't bring it up around anyone he shouldn't, that is.

It was still only Lauren, Lola and Dexter that knew. They'd all promised not to say anything, though it was Dexter she was worried about; one slip up to his mum or nan, it was game over. Jay swore his friend knew how to keep a secret though, so she would just have to trust her family for once.

As they pulled up outside the Mitchells, she sighed. It was as if being on the square brought reality crashing down around her; how difficult this would be, if they could make it work, telling her parents.

"What story did you spin Phil again?" She asked, referring to how he convinced Phil to lend him the car.

"Just said I was taking you out and, being the best boyfriend in the world, didn't want to go on the tube. Plus I gave him ten quid."

She laughed, knowing that Phil wouldn't have lent his car or taken a bribe (especially in the form of a lousy tenner) off anyone but Jay. Yet, her boyfriend didn't seem to realize that Phil still thought of him as a son.

"Right. I've got to get home but I'll see you when you finish work, yeah?" She smiled as he nodded in response, before leaning over to place her lips on his. "I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

><p>Ever since he'd left her a few hours ago, she was all he'd been thinking about. he'd been watching the clock until he could see her again. Five o'clock couldn't come quick enough.<p>

It was surreal, that this was actually happening. The idea that, just a few months from now, he would be a father...It was crazy, it was terrifying; but, more than anything else, it was amazing. All he'd ever wanted was a family to call his own and now he would get it. Just him, the love of his life and their baby.

He knew that Abi was scared - so was he - but they had each other, and he knew they'd be okay. Just like they always were. They'd get through this together and, in the end, it would be the best thing that ever happened to them.

Maybe that was soft of him, but someone had to be the optimistic one when Abi was getting herself in a proper state. To be fair, she had become a lot more positive over the past week. He knew that she'd been panicking when she first found out, it was pretty obvious (to him, at least) that it had completely thrown her and she didn't actually mean what she'd said. He knew better than that.

None of that mattered now, anyway. It didn't matter about what had happened in the past; their future was just beginning, and in the best way possible. He couldn't have been happier and, honestly, he wish he could tell people. But Abi wasn't ready to and he understood that. Besides, keeping it - mostly - to themselves was exciting. This was theirs and nobody else's.

"What's got into you today?"

He was snapped out of his thoughts as Phil's voice filled the garage.

"What d'you mean?" Jay asked, frowning slightly in confusion.

"I mean you've been grinning like a proper muppet all day. You won the lotto or somethin'?"

He almost told the older man that it was better than winning the lotto, but he realized that would just inspire more questions he couldn't answer.

"Can't a bloke just be in a good mood around here?" He asked, smirking. "We're not all miserable old codgers like yourself, Phillip."

Dexter, who was to his left working on the car, sent him a knowing look. His friend had, luckily, managed to keep his mouth shut so far.

"Oi, watch it you." Phil warned, though Jay knew he was joking. "You, uh, might as well clock off, both of you. I can finish up here."

"Really? Cheers, Phil." He replied, knowing there was probably something that Phil was up to that required them out of the picture. But he didn't argue; he had better things to do - including getting back to the beautiful mother of his future child.

Within five minutes or so, he and Dexter were on their way out of the Arches.

"You fancy a quick one at the Vic?" Dexter asked.

"Nah, mate, I'm going to Abi's." Jay answered without hesitation.

"Oh yeah, how did it go earlier?" Dexter asked, once they were out of earshot. "At the clinic?"

"It was good." he answered. "I mean, it's scary and overwhelming and stuff...But it's amazing, you know?"

Dexter just nodded and there was silence for a few seconds before he spoke. "You haven't told her yet, have you? About Kitty?"

As soon as he heard her name, he felt sick to his stomach. There goes his good mood. "Dext.."

"Jay, you said you would, man! What is wrong with you, huh? You need to tell her, like, now."

"She's happy, Dexter," he spat. "You want to be the one to take that away from her then go ahead. But she never needs to know, we agreed."

His friend just looked at him, in a mixture of disgust and thoughtfulness. After a few seconds, he scoffed, shook his head and walked away.

Jay just sighed, running a hand over his face. Nothing was going to ruin things for him and Abi - especially not one stupid mistake.

* * *

><p>She was reading through all of the leaflets they'd picked up from the clinic. Well, Jay had picked up whilst she laughed at his...enthusiasm. Not that she didn't appreciate it, because of course she did. It was sweet; he was sweet.<p>

Plus these leaflets were actually pretty interesting - a little scary, sure, but still interesting.

She was reading about the fun topic that was morning sickness, when she heard a knock at the door. Knowing it was Jay, she forced herself up off the sofa to go let him in.

"Hi," she grinned.

"Hi," he echoed, stepping into the house and immediately leaning in to kiss her - which she, of course, let him do.

"What was that for?" She asked with a coy smirk, when she eventually pulled away.

"I missed you, that's all." He replied with a shrug.

She simply laughed, shaking her head. Sometimes, she couldn't believe how lucky she was to have him. "How was work?"

He shrugged. "Fine. Phil hasn't killed Dexter yet, so that's something."

"Is he okay? Dexter, I mean. He's been acting really odd lately."

"Yeah, yeah, he's okay. As far as I know, anyway.."

There was clearly something he wasn't telling her, but she wasn't going to push it. Even if she wanted to, he was already dragging her into the lounge. Something didn't feel right. Jay seemed...off, for some reason. Did she say something wrong? She'd only asked about Dexter..

"Are you okay?" She asked, crossing her arms across her chest as she looked at him in concern.

"Me? Yeah, of course I am," He answered, but it was so distant and cold that it just made her more uncomfortable. She hated it when he tried to fob her off; she wasn't dumb, and she knew him better than anyone.

She didn't say anything, just looked on as he sat on the sofa and starting flicking through the leaflets.

"You're not having doubt about this, are you? About the baby? Because if you are then-"

"What?" he interrupted, looking at her as if she was insane. "No, babe, of course I'm not."

"No, if you are, Jay, then you need to tell me," she replied forcefully, moving to sit next to him."If there's a single doubt in your mind about any of this, you need to say so. Right now."

"There's not. I promise you, there's not." He stated, comfortingly reaching for her hand. "All I want is you and our baby. I've never been so sure about anything in my life."

She smiled, gently squeezing his hand. There was still a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach, telling her something was definitely wrong, but she ignored it. If Jay said everything was fine...then she'd just have to take his word for it.

"Lauren's still on about telling Dad.." she sighed after a few seconds of silence. "I don't think she's going to let it go anytime soon."

"To be fair, she is right," he shrugged. "He's going to find out eventually, Ab. It's only going to be worse the longer you leave it."

"I know," she said quietly, glancing away. "I know. It's just….I'm not ready to let him down yet."

"Hey, you're not letting anyone down. Besides, your mum would have been the same age as you having Lauren. Neither of them can say anything and, if they do, then stuff 'em."

The blonde let out a laugh, at that last statement. Maybe he was right; he was probably right. But that didn't mean she was ready for everyone to know yet. She'd just about got her head around it, was it really too much to ask that she didn't have other people pestering her about it too? She was actually dreading it, so yes, she was going to put off telling her Dad for as long as possible.

* * *

><p> what's jay hiding from abi? it might not be _**exactly **_the same as what happened in the show….if you have a second, please drop me a review; it would mean the world to know what people think about this story! now, how about a little spoiler alert?

next chapter, an old face returns and yet another walford resident discovers the pregnancy...let me know what you think;)


	7. Chapter 7

"Ab, are you okay in there?"

Abi clenched her eyes shut as her Dad shouted. She was 12 weeks now, and she still hadn't told him she was pregnant, so morning sickness was just a _little_ inconvenient. She'd had a 'stomach bug' for the past two weeks, and her Dad seemed to believe it for now but she knew he wasn't stupid enough for her to keep this up for much longer. And if she didn't know it, Lauren was **more** than happy to remind her constantly.

"Yeah...Yeah, I'm fine, just go to work." She managed to reply, wiping the tears from her eyes as she stood up and headed to the sink. She heard Lauren mumble something outside the door, before Max shouted a goodbye. Turning on the tap, she threw some cold water over her face and took a deep breath - knowing her sister was on the other side of the door.

She sighed as she opened the door to Lauren's half-judgmental, half-sympathetic look. Abi would never understand how she could do that.

"Abi, you need to tell him. This is getting ridiculous."

"Yeah, Lauren, you've said. A hundred times, _daily_, for the past two flamin' months."

"Well, you know I'm right," Lauren sighed. "Are you okay?"

"...I'm going back to bed."

* * *

><p>She'd drifted back off the sleep almost immediately after that, but it felt like she hadn't slept a wink when her phone woke her. She sighed and groggily rubbed her eyes as she answered the call, seeing it was Jay.<p>

"Hiya."

"Hey, where are you? I'm on your doorstep."

"What? Aren't you in work?"

"I'm on lunch, babe, it's one o'clock." He laughed.

"Ugh, I'm sorry, I'll be down now.."

As she made her way downstairs, she called out for her sister but got no answer. She wondered for a second where she'd got to, but in all honesty, she was grateful she wouldn't have to deal with another lecture from her.

Opening the door, she smiled as she saw Jay. He mumbled a hello, giving her a quick kiss before he came inside and she shut the door behind him.

"Were you asleep?" He asked.

"Yeah, I...I went back to bed earlier, must have been sleeping ever since."

"You're okay, though? Lauren text me this morning saying you weren't feelin' too good.."

She laughed, mentally cursing her interfering sister. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"...Do you want a cuddle?" He smiled, causing her to giggle as she nodded in response.

He wrapped his arms around her and she did the same. They stayed that way for a few seconds before he pulled back. It was then she noticed the carrier bag in his hand and gave him a questioning look, causing him to pull something out if it and pass it to her.

"It's lemon balm tea. I've got camomile, peppermint, and spearmint too… didn't know which you'd prefer, but the girl on the counter said they're all supposed to help with nausea." He explained, but before she could say anything, he was off again. "Oh, _and_ I've got you a chicken sandwich and a couple doughnuts from the cafe."

She let out a giggle, shaking her head. "I love you, you nutter."

"Yeah, so you should...Had to go up the pharmacy on the high street since **_someone_ **won't let me go to the one across the square in case someone sees."

"I'm sorry." She sighed, as she headed into the lounge and sat on the sofa.

He did the same, passing her the chicken sandwich. "I'm worried about you."

"It's morning sickness, Jay," she laughed. "I'm pregnant, remember?"

"No, no… that's not what I meant," he replied. "This not wanting anyone to know stuff...And Lauren and Lola _both_ agree, so I know it's not just me being over-protective or anything. Ab, people are going to find out and you're going to have to face it sooner rather than later."

"I know…"

"That's all you ever say, babe, we **know** that you know. You're just not doing anything about it."

She glanced down, picking on the unopened packet. "I said in my own time, I don't see the problem.."

He didn't answer her, so she looked back up. She knew it was selfish, asking him to keep quiet when he just wanted everyone to know, but she wasn't ready.

"Are you ashamed of this? Are you ashamed of our baby?"

"What!? No, Jay, of course I'm not."

"Then _why_? What are you so afraid of?" he asked, but got no answer. "'Cause you're 12 weeks now, so the risks of anything going wrong now is like… tiny. And you're starting to show; you're hurling your guts up every morning, Ab, your Dad's not that stupid! He's gonna catch on."

"Okay.."

"Ugh, enjoy your teas, yeah.." he stood up in a huff, storming out.

"Jay, wait!" She protested, standing up and grabbing his arm to stop him. "_Please_ don't go…"

He stopped in his tracks, letting out an irritated breath before turning to face her.

"I **swear** to you I'll tell my parents soon. And then you can shout it from the flamin' rooftops if you want to.." she spoke, softly. "But please don't rush me into it."

"Why are you so reluctant about them knowing? Surely it's better to tell them now so they have more time to, you know, get used to it.."

"I just...I don't want them to ruin this. And they _will_ ruin it, you know they will. Maybe not so much Mum, but…..well, do I really need to tell you how my Dad's gonna react?"

Jay sighed, looking down. "I'm sorry.."

"You have nothing to be sorry about." She smiled. "I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

><p>Two hours later, Jay was at work and still thinking about their earlier…disagreement. He knew that she hated the idea of disappointing Max, and he also knew that Max was going to flip. So, yeah, he did understand why she didn't want to tell anyone until she absolutely had to. But that didn't make it any easier for him not to tell scream him for the rooftops.<p>

It made him angry, if anything, that her Dad was such a prat that she was scared to tell him about something she was actually looking forward to.

"Oi, what's that engine ever done to you?" Phil's voice broke him out of his thoughts, and he realized just how worked up it was making him.

"Jay, cut it out, will you?"

When his boss spoke again, Jay threw his tools to the floor and slammed the car hood down.

"What the hell's the matter with you, eh? Jay?"

He didn't answer for a second, but he was so pissed off, that he didn't even realize when he opened his mouth.

"Abi's pregnant."

* * *

><p>A few hours after Jay had left, she was still sat in the lounge just watching some stupid TV. She'd actually had a couple of hours to herself, without Jay or Lauren or Lola, <strong><em>or<em> **Dexter nagging her. Which, these days, was a rare occurrence. So, it was nice to just watch whatever dumb show she could find and not worry about what was actually going on in her life.

He was wrong; she wasn't ashamed of anything, not of him, not of this baby. She was just scared...Hell, she was terrified. It wasn't even the idea of being someone's mum that scared her the most - and that scared her a hell of a lot. But, no, it was the idea of telling her parents that terrified her. And she felt like a broken record how much she was explaining that at the moment.

Of course her peace couldn't last forever, as Lauren came through the door. "Alright? Where have you been?"

"I was just hanging out, that's all.."

"Hanging out? With who?" Abi laughed.

"Peter."

She looked up at the older brunette, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Don't look at me like that; we're just friends, remember?" Lauren protested as she sat down on the sofa next to Abi. "We **are**!"

"Alright, I didn't say anything," Abi laughed, shrugging her shoulders. "He's pretty into Lola, not that either of them will admit it."

Lauren scoffed, folding her arms and Abi knew she'd hit a nerve with that one. It was pretty funny...Lola liked Peter, Peter liked Lola, and Lauren hated it. Yet not a single one of them was mature enough to admit how they felt.

There was a knock on the door, and Lauren made no attempt to move, so Abi stood up and kicked her sister's legs (which were up on the coffee table) out of the way.

She laughed at Lauren's groan of annoyance, but her smile quickly dropped when she opened the door.

"- _**Mum**_?!"

* * *

><p>an: i'm really sorry for the long time between updates, i'm going to try to work on that! you know what would inspire me? a review, that's what..

_next time_…..how will phil react to jay's news? how will abi react to tanya's surprise visit?


	8. Chapter 8

"Mum, what are you doing here?"

"Came to see my girls, of course. Now, are you going to let us in or...?"

Abi glanced down at a grinning Oscar who was stood besides their mum, offering him a genuine smile in return as she stepped back to let them both into the house. She hadn't actually seen her mum since she'd found out about the pregnancy; she made constant excuses as to why she couldn't go to Exeter, promising to visit soon. In reality, she just wasn't ready to look into yet another loved one's eyes - and _lie_.

But now her mum was stood right in front of her and she felt as if she was going to vomit.

Lauren appeared in the hallway, and Oscar ran straight to the eldest Branning sibling. Once all of the mandatory hugging and greeting was over, Abi quickly excused herself to the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of water, taking a deep breath. The kitchen door was slightly ajar, so she could still hear her mum and Lauren whispering outside. Whatever it was they were being so sketchy about, she didn't care - after all, Abi's own secret was probably much bigger.

It was a few minutes later that Tanya appeared in the kitchen, firmly shutting the door behind her.

"Not exactly the welcome I was hoping for…" Tanya sighed, and Abi quickly painted a smile across her face. She'd become so used to fake smiles and lies these past few months, it was like second nature by now.

"What were you expecting? A **_red carpet_**?" She teased, forcing a laugh. Considering the look on her mum's face, she didn't seem to find it as funny. "What?"

"Lauren's taken Oscar to see your Nan, go through the lounge. I'll bring her some coffees.." Her mum demanded gently, and Abi silently did as she was told and waited for her mother to join her on the sofa. A few minutes later, Tanya entered with the promised coffees.

"Lauren called me earlier.."

"...Did she?" Abi laughed nervously, raising an eyebrow.

"Said I needed to come back...Said I needed to talk to you.."

"Me? Why?" She tried to keep her calm, but she already felt as if she was going to burst into tears.

"You tell me," Tanya suggested, reaching for Abi's hand. "You haven't been to see me in almost three months; I've never seen the colour drain out of your face as quick as it did when you opened that door and saw me on the other side. Something's going on with you, and whatever it is, I want to know."

She felt sick. There's no way this was happening; she was going to _**kill **_Lauren. A few seconds passed before she eventually managed to open her mouth and force some words out.

"N-nothing's going...nothing's going on, I promise," she stuttered. "I'm fine, everything's fine."

Her mum gave her a look and she knew this wasn't going to last long.

"Abi, how many times? You've had the same guilty face since you were three, I know when you're lying," Tanya smirked, almost sentimentally. "Which is why you've been avoiding me.."

"I haven't-"

"Abs, don't lie. I'm not leaving until you tell me what's bothering you, so might as well fess up now."

She looked down, blinking furiously to stop the tears that were close to falling. She took a deep breath, shaking her head.

"Is it your Dad? Has he done something?" Tanya questioned, placing her cup of coffee on the table. When Abi remained silent, her mum continued. "Is it school? _Jay_?"

Suddenly, she couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into floods of tears.

"Oh, darling…" she heard Tanya mutter in concern, as she pulled Abi into her side. They stayed like that for a few minutes, Abi sobbing into her mum's embrace as Tanya gently rubbed her back and offered quiet words of comfort.

"What's this all about, Abs? What's going on?" Her mum asked as Abi continued to cry.

"I'm sorry, mum, I'm _so _sorry.." she mumbled into Tanya's jumper, which was by now tear-stained.

"Sorry for what, darling? Hey?" Tanya questioned, confused.

"I'm pregnant." Abi confessed. Her words were barely audible, but she knew her mum heard by the way her body stiffened. After a few seconds of silence, Abi lifted herself back up, looking her mum in the eye.

Tanya didn't look disappointed or angry like she assumed she would be; no, she just looked shocked. Which was an understandable reaction to your seventeen year old daughter telling you she's pregnant.

"Please...please don't be mad." Abi said softly as she regained control of her breathing and wiped the tears away. She just wanted Tanya to say something.

"I'm not….I'm not mad, darling, I'm not." She said, running her fingers through Abi's blonde locks.

"Really?"

"Really..." Tanya sighed. "How far gone are you?"

"Twelve weeks…" she gulped.

"Twelve weeks?!" Her mum exclaimed, raising her eyebrows. "How long have you been keeping this to yourself?!"

"Well, I mean….Jay knows, so does Lauren." She shrugged. "Lola and Dexter, too. So it's not as if I've bottled it up.."

"Lauren knows? So that's why she called?"

Abi nodded, assuming that was the reason.

"Right," Tanya said sharply. "I'm guessing your father doesn't know then."

And there it was. She literally felt her heart stop every time that was brought up. She reached for her cup of coffee, shaking her head in response.

"Okay…" Tanya said. "And you're keeping it?"

She nodded again, with the tiniest hint of a smile. This was going a lot better than she'd been expecting; of course, she'd been thinking the absolute worst case scenario. But, still, she at least expected her mum to be a little bit upset or disappointed. But she seemed...okay. For now, at least.

"Are you sure? I mean, Abs, what about uni? All of your hard work.."

"I can still do that, if I want to, when I'm older. I know a child kinda complicates things, but I can still do it. I'm not giving up." She explained. "I want to have this baby."

"And how does Jay feel about this?" Tanya sighed, questioningly. "Does he want it?"

"Yes," she replied, before letting out a genuine laugh. "He's actually really happy about this - like _really _happy, Mum. We have the 12 week scan on Thursday."

"Wow…" Tanya breathed. "Wow."

Abi just smiled. Maybe she **should** have said something before, because having it off her chest with _one_ parent felt a lot better.

* * *

><p>"She's pregnant?"<p>

Shit. Jay'd properly landed them in it now, hadn't he? Abi was going to kill him and his stupid big mouth - but, you know what? He didn't even care. It was his baby just as much as it was hers.

"Yeah. And we're keeping it."

Phil was quiet for a few seconds, before he let out a huff.

"Explains why you're in such a state."

"What? No, don't be stupid, I'm not upset that she's pregnant. I'm...I'm over the moon about it, actually. I'm just upset that she won't tell anyone."

"And you want to?"

"Yeah. But she's worried about Max…"

"Well, Max doesn't really strike me as the kind of bloke to be okay with you knocking up his teenage daughter."

"Oh thanks, that's helpful." Jay remarked, rolling his eyes.

As if he hadn't already thought about that. **Several **times. But he didn't care; he didn't give a toss what Max thought about him or what was happening. Abi, on the other hand, very much cared about her Dad's opinion of her. The only reason he'd kept quiet was because he knew how much Max meant to her. And that was the only reason he'd tolerate the bloke - a courtesy which wouldn't continue should Max make things difficult when he found out about his future grandchild.

Jay could only hope - for Abi's sake and their baby's - that Max wouldn't kick up a fuss. Though that was highly unlikely, hence why Abi was determined to put it off for as long as humanly possible. That's what it seemed like, anyway.

"I'm just saying," Phil spoke up, interrupting Jay's train of thought. "I doubt he'll be playing the doting Grandad from the word go, but...he'll come round."

"Yeah, I hope so." Jay sighed, running a hand across his face. "Abi's scared enough about this as it is. So am I."

"You just said you were over the moon?"

"I am, and so is she. But...come on, Phil, we don't know how to raise a child. I know that we'll be fine, that we'll figure it out, but it's still pretty damn scary. Abi needs her Dad's support, not his anger."

"Look, if there's one thing I know about Max Branning...bloke loves his kids. He won't exactly leave her out on the streets."

"Yeah, I know."

"And if he does kick off, she still has her mum, don't she?" Phil mused, before pausing briefly. "And **you'll **still have me."

Jay smiled, nodding in response. He and Phil may not have always seen eye to eye, but he'd been like a Dad to him - he'd took him in and, no matter what, he'd be grateful for that. Before he could thank him properly, his phone buzzed in his pocket.

NEW MESSAGE: ABI.

_**Mum's here, I've told her... Come over ASAP? X**_

* * *

><p>Hellooooooo lovely people! Quick shoutout to StellSkins123 - the unexpected mention in your update was what inspired me to finish off this chapter today. If you haven't read their new jayabi story, go check it out and leave them a review because it's fabulous.

Anyway - next chapter in their 12 week scan! Which will hopefully be up soon. In the meantime, please leave a review! It only takes a second but it means a lot. I'd love to know what you think of this story so far and/or what you'd like to see happen! It means the world that even one person is enjoying reading this, so yes, review if you can. Pretty please. Thank you. ~


	9. Chapter 9

Jay had practically been doing cartwheels since breakfast, he was so excited. Today was the day of their 12 week scan, which meant they were seeing their baby for the first time.

Abi, on the other hand, was nervous. Of course she was excited more just like Jay - though, maybe not _quite_ as excited.

But she was also worried - what if something was wrong with the baby?

She knew it was silly, but apparently, the pregnancy hormones brought out the pessimistic over-thinker in her. Jay had teased that she was simply turning into her mother.

Her mother who now knew about the pregnancy. She had also agreed with Jay that Abi had to tell Max that he was going to be a Grandad a lot sooner than he was expecting. So, she'd promised - no, **_swore_ **- that she would tell him after the scan. Which may or may not have contributed to her nerves.

But as Jay parked outside the clinic, there was no question on what was causing the butterflies in her stomach. They were just minutes away from seeing their baby and that made her feel nothing but excitement.

As they entered the surgery, Abi gave her details to the receptionist and the two of them not-so-patiently took a seat. It was pretty quiet; there were two other couples there who were much older than the two of them, but she wasn't bothered. Their situation may not have been **perfect**, but it was _**theirs**_.

One thing that _was_ starting to bother her, after twenty minutes of toe-tapping and deep breaths? **Jay**.

"Will you please relax? I thought _I_ was the nervous one," she teased, as she placed her hand on his thigh.

"I'm sorry.." he sighed, taking hold of her hand with both of his. "This is just unreal."

"I know," she smiled softly, and Jay leaned over to give her a longing peck on the lips. Just a few seconds later, the midwife called for Abigail Branning.

They followed the woman into the small room, where Abi was instructed to make herself comfortable on the bed. After a few routine questions, most of which were an obvious attempt to make Abi relax, the midwife squirted the cold gel on her tummy.

Jay grabbed hold of her hand as they both watched the screen, the midwife moving the device around on Abi's stomach to find the baby.

Suddenly, it appeared. There on the screen was their baby. It was barely there, but they could both see it.

"There we are..." the midwife said gently. "One perfectly healthy little baby."

They were both stunned into total silence for a few moments. It was just a tiny little blob, but in a few months, that tiny little blob would be their little boy or girl. And that was amazing.

"Oh my God, _baby_, that's our **baby**!" Jay was the first to break the silence, causing Abi to turn to him and laugh.

"That's our baby," Abi repeated emotionally, turning her head back to the screen. Jay leaned down and pressed his lips against her forehead.

Abi knew in that moment that she'd been wrong before; this **was** perfect.

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Jay and Abi were sat on the sofa at her house. Lauren and Max were working, and Tanya had gone to see Cora. So it was just the two of them, free to coo over the baby scan.<p>

"I still can't believe it you know," Jay breathed. "How can something so small be so..."

"Perfect?" she suggested.

"Yeah. **Perfect**."

Abi smiled, grasping the photo in her hand as she snuggled into his side.

For a while, they just sat in a comfortable silence. Today had been amazing, but pretty damn overwhelming too. Abi in particular was exhausted - 99% of the time, she felt as if she could take a nap there and then. Wherever, whenever. Clearly this baby got it's sleep patterns from it's Daddy.

She was so comfortable, cuddled into him warmly as he played with her hair. She almost started to drift off, before the slamming off the door woke her abruptly. Jay quickly snatched the scan out of her hand, stuffing it in the back pocket of his jeans as Abi sat up.

"Dad, you're home early?!" She questioned hastily, painting on her best false smile.

"I ain't stopping, don't worry." Max responded, picking up some papers off the table. He clearly noticed the tension in the room, along with his daughter's tight-lipped smile, and was quick to ask questions.

"Everything okay?" He asked, to which Abi and Jay both nodded. As Max went back to shuffling through the drawers, Jay gave Abi an encouraging look and nudged the scan photo towards her.

She quickly shook her head, but Jay nudged her once more. A quick glance up at her Dad, and she decided it was now or never.

"Actually, Dad?" She blurted out as she stood up, trying to portray confidence despite being petrified. Max looked at her confusedly, before raising his eyebrows as a sign to continue.

She'd been planning this for months; how she'd break it to him gently, insist Jay was fully behind her, remind him she would always be his little girl but she needed to grow up now. But, suddenly, as she looked at him, her mind went blank.

"I'm..." she stuttered, as Jay stood and took her hand into his. "I'm pregnant."

It was silent for a few seconds and she felt a little more nauseous with every moment that passed.

"You're..._what_?!" Max questioned commandingly, but they all knew he'd heard her loud and clear.

"Pregnant," she repeated, using up every shred of confidence she had. The tight grip Jay had on her hand definitely helped.

Max slammed the papers he'd been holding onto the table, causing her to flinch back towards Jay.

"What?! How...How could you be so _**stupid**_?!" Max screamed. "Eh?!"

"I'm sorry.." she whimpered, feeling the tears burning behind her eyelids. "Please don't be angry."

"Angry? _Angry_?!" Max shouted, turning his back to his daughter and her boyfriend.

"Look, I know it's a lot to take it but I'm not a little girl..." she sighed. "I need you to support me, Dad...and your grandchild."

It was quiet for a minute before Max turned back around.

"You ain't keeping it." He stated, matter of factly.

"Yeah, we are keeping it. Whether you like it or not." Jay butted in, angrily.

"Oh, yeah, was wondering when _**you'd**_ pipe up," Max spat, before turning back to Abi. "So, _what_? He told you he's gonna be there for you, has he?"

"Yeah, and I'm going to be." Jay answered, clearly growing frustrated with Max's words.

"Abi, tell me you're joking; please tell me you're winding me up here." Max scoffed.

"I'm sorry," she apologized again, trying to avoid eye contact with her father. At least she was right about one parent's bad reaction, hey? "But I'm keeping this baby. We went for the 12-week scan today and _everything_-"

"You're **12** **weeks**?! How long have you known about this?" Max interrupted, causing Abi to go silent. "Abi?!"

"About two months…" she replied cautiously, before quickly continuing upon seeing his look of disgust. "I wanted to find the right time to tell you, okay? I was scared, I knew you'd react badly!"

"You're right, Ab, I mean my daughter's throwing her entire life away but _why_ would I react badly to that?!" Max questioned sarcastically.

"I'm **not** throwing my life away! We're going to be fine."

"Yeah, you _will_ be just fine once you've been down to the abortion clinic!"

It went silent and Abi was sure her heart had actually just stopped beating.

"Who the hell do you think you are, hey!?" Jay demanded, finally losing his temper for the man he was trying so hard to respect for Abi's sake.

"Jay, don't-"

"No, Ab, I'm sorry but this is ridiculous!" Jay argued, stepping in front of her so that he was face to face with Max. "You do not get a say in this, at **_all_**. It's our baby and Abi wants you to be a part if it's life but if you can't, then that's your loss not ours."

"Let me know when you're ready to talk to me like an adult, yeah? Until then, we'll be at Nan's." Max didn't have a chance to retaliate, before Abi had grabbed Jay's hand and was dragging him out of the Branning house.

* * *

><p>Soooo, Max now knows! Kind of a shorter chapter than usual, but I wanted to keep the revealconfrontation short and sweet for now, as there's more coming up with that soon. The next update should be up sooner rather than later, but please drop me a review to let me know what you think of what's happened so far - and/or what you would like to happen! Thanks for reading. xo


	10. Chapter 10

It had been three weeks and Abi had been staying with Jay at the B&B, which wasn't exactly convenient with how small his room was, but they were making it work. Tanya had gone back to sort things out in Exeter, and Abi still hadn't made up with Max. Not for the lack of trying on her father's part; he'd calmed down and was apologetic, but everytime he tried to put things right, he would end up making it worse. So Abi had decided to just avoid him at all costs, and Jay simply didn't argue.

Abi was starting to show now, and everyone knew about the pregnancy. It was a lot easier not having to keep it a secret, but it didn't help when she felt everyone was judging her. Jay told her it didn't matter what anyone else thought, and deep down she _knew_ he was right, but she couldn't help the way she felt. She didn't like feeling as if people were looking at her, talking about her, taking _**pity** _on her. Everyone told her not to worry about it, but she did wonder what they were saying when she wasn't around. Call her paranoid, but she was seventeen and pregnant. It was hardly a stretch to wonder if people were talking about her. Jay didn't care what other people thought; he thought it was the best thing in the world, so why should he give a toss about anyone else? It was just another reason why she loved him so much.

He was in work now, leaving her sat alone and bored in his room. She hadn't gone into sixth form today, since she'd woke up nauseous and exhausted. The idea of going and sitting in a room full of people who were judging her, and listening to a teacher - who was probably _also _judging her - made her head spin. She couldn't face it, so she'd taken the morning off. Again. She'd promised Jay she'd go in this afternoon, since she was supposed to be trying not to miss too much, but it was one o'clock and she was still sat in her pyjamas. So it didn't look as if she was going to be learning anything today, did it?

It said in the books (yes, _plural _on book**_s_**) that Jay bought that morning sickness usually started to improve between 14 and 16 weeks - and, since she was now 16 weeks herself, she was hoping she'd start to see that sooner rather than later. Because this vomiting thing wasn't much fun. She loved and wanted this baby, but pregnancy really wasn't working out for her. But she kept telling herself that it would all be worth it in the end. She was just glad that she had Jay by her side.

* * *

><p>Jay sighed as he scribbled over the ad in the newspaper, shaking his head. He was sat in the cafe on his lunch break, and at the moment he was trying to find a flat for him and Abi. Only problem was, there was no way they could afford anything. Like, literally, <em>anything<em>. It was next to impossible to find somewhere that was within their price range. A price range that was next to non-existent, mind you. He had a bit of cash after working all these years at the Arches and she had her wages from waitressing for Ian at the restaurant, but it was still hard. He wanted the perfect place for them to raise their child. Tanya had said they could go stay with her in Exeter until they were more settled. So, whilst they could just do that, Jay wanted them to have a place of their own. They wouldn't be able to stay in Tanya's house forever, and he thought it would be best to get somewhere before the baby was born, if they could. Just so the child could settle where he or she was from the day they were born, with no fuss with moving around afterwards. He'd been looking around for a relatively cheap flat, but 'cheap' and 'two bedrooms in London' weren't words that belonged in the same sentence. So, he hadn't told Abi that he'd been looking. He just didn't want to make any empty promises. When he found them a place, then he would bring it up.

He looked up when he heard someone sitting down opposite him. _Phil_. Jay frowned, leaning back in his seat. Neither of them said anything for a few moments, and Jay was just about to ask what it was that the older man wanted when he finally spoke up. "You going somewhere?"

Jay didn't reply straight away, instead eyeing his boss suspiciously. "Hopefully. B&B's no place for a baby, so…"

"Can't you live with Abi's lot?" Phil asked. "Max don't seem the type to chuck his _precious Princess_ out over a bun in the oven."

"Well they're still not talking, so.." Jay sighed. "Though that's more Abi than it is Max. She's, _uh_, pretty stubborn when she wants to be."

Phil just laughed and there was a comfortable silence for a few seconds. "You know, if you need help with anything…"

"Like what?"

"Like..._money_ or-"

"I don't need money."

"- Or a _place to stay_, then I can help. Wouldn't it be easier if you didn't have to pay rent every month?"

Jay looked up at him in confusion, prompting Phil to go on. "Come back to stay with me. Just to save you some money until the baby's born."

"No, I don't think that's a good idea," Jay eventually answered.

"Okay...Fair enough. Extra shifts at the Arches then?" Phil offered, continuing before Jay could turn him down. "You're gonna be a Dad, Jay. Ain't no room to be proud. Just think about it."

With that, Phil stood up and walked out of the cafe, leaving Jay alone to think about what had just happened.

* * *

><p>"Lola, are you okay?"<p>

Abi had eventually got too bored for her own good and had gone over to her Nan's. She was only there for a few minutes until Cora had left to go meet Patrick, which was a _little _insulting, but whatever. Luckily, at the same time, she received a text message from Lola. The other girl had just finished a shift at the salon, and wanted to see her. With the morning sickness playing up, Abi decided not to risk _another_ walk across the Square, so Lola had come to Cora's. It was just the two of them, and little Lexi of course, so it was nice. Abi couldn't help but feel like something was off with her best friend though. She was unusually quiet, but it was as if there was something she wanted to say but wasn't sure how to.

"What? Yeah, yeah I'm **great**," she gushed, before suddenly breaking out into a fit of giggles. Abi looked at her in surprise, laughing herself.

"Okay, that's it...what's going on?" She asked, shaking her head. When Lola shrugged coyly, and looked down at her hands, Abi gasped. "It's a boy, isn't it?"

"A _boy_? What? Pfffft, no," Lola scoffed, very clearly lying through her teeth.

"Is it Peter?!" Abi asked, sitting more upright and studying her friend's reaction. When the other blonde just laughed again, a pink blush creeping upon her cheeks, Abi knew the answer. "Lola!"

"Fine, fine," Lola sighed in sarcastic defeat. "Yes, we're together."

"Oh my _**God**_…" Abi breathed. "When did this happen?"

"Last night," Lola replied. "We slept together and I thought maybe that was all he wanted, but...But I saw him earlier and he wants to be with me, Ab. Like proper be with me."

"That's great, Lo," she smiled. "So you really like him, huh?"

"He's…" Lola started, shaking her head as she looked for the words. "Peter's kind, and smart, and funny, and gentle….And, I mean, have you seen his abs? Crazy."

They both laughed but they were interrupted when Lauren appeared in the doorway.

"Lauren.." Abi breathed. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, um, Nan said you were here…" Lauren explained, awkwardly. "But you're busy, so I'll catch you later."

Abi protested for a moment but her sister was out of the door in a flash. Lola confusedly turne to look at her. "What's _**her** _problem?"

"I think she overheard you."

"So?"

"_So_ her and Peter used to date, it was probably just an awkward thing to walk in on," Abi shrugged, as Lola's face dropped. "Wait, I thought you knew? Peter didn't mention it?"

"No...No, he didn't," Lola replied, standing up from the couch and picking Lexi up from the floor. "I'll talk to you later, Abs."

* * *

><p>Abi entered their room at the B&amp;B, smiling when she saw Jay sat on the bed.<p>

"Hey you," she greeted, putting her back down and going to sit next to him.

"Hey," he replied, leaning over to give her a kiss on the lips. "You'll never guess what happened to me today."

"_You'll_ never guess what happened to **_me_ **today," Abi echoed with a smirk. "But you go first."

"...Okay, Phil offered me money."

"**_What_**?!"

"Then he offered for me to move back in rent free. _Then_ he offered more shifts at the Arches."

"...Wow, you win. What did you say?"

"Well, I said no, but he told me to think about it," Jay sighed, running a hand over his face. "With the baby coming, I don't know if I can afford to say no. I was hoping you'd be able to tell me."

"I think that it's _totally_ up to you, but…" Abi paused for a moment, reaching for his hand. "If you're comfortable working with Phil, would a few more hours really hurt? It's not as if it would be charity or anything, you'd be working for it."

"Yeah…" he breathed, idly rubbing his thumb against the back of her hand. "Yeah, maybe you're right. What happened with you then?"

"Lola and Peter are together-"

"-_What_?! I knew it."

"I know, I _know_," Abi laughed before going quiet. "Well, they **_were_**. Lauren walked in on Lola talking about him and got all weird, so I said about how her and Peter used to date and...well, Lola didn't know. I thought I'd told her, or that Peter would have, but apparently not."

"...Oh."

"Yeah. **_Oh_**," Abi repeated before sighing and cuddling into his side, Jay wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "I mean it's been months, how did she _not_ know that? She didn't seem too happy about it either. Hopefully her and Peter will work it out though. I think they're good together."

Jay smiled as she rambled on, distractedly playing with her hair. All of this stuff was going on, but none of it even mattered. Their money troubles, their living situation, Abi's arguing with Max...**_definitely_ **not Lola/Peter/Lauren's love life. None of it really mattered because they had each other. They could sit there, her wrapped into his side and him playing with her hair, just listening to her talk about silly little things as if their lives weren't about to be turned upside down and inside out in just a few months. That was one of the many reasons why he loved her. She may have been a worrier when there was no need to worry, but she also had the ability to stop _him_ from worrying. They were living in a tiny room in a B&B, she was three and a half months pregnant, and they were sat here debating their friends' relationship problems.

It was half hour later and they were _still_ talking about it.

"You really think Lauren still has feelings for Peter? Weren't they like 12 when they dated?" Jay questioned. "And what about Joey? Or that new bloke you said she was seeing?"

"My best friend's new boyfriend, my blood-related biological first cousin, **_or_ **a man she met at alcoholics counselling.." Abi sighed, as if she was thinking about the options. "She really knows how to pick 'em, my sister."

"Yeah, clearly." Jay laughed, shaking his head.

"She's **_obviously_ **not got such a good taste in men as_ I_ have," Abi smirked, leaning up to kiss him.

"Oh, you've got the _best _taste," he replied, continuing to kiss her as she laughed against his lips.

* * *

><p>Bit of a filler chapter, but I promise it's all leading somewhere. And I promise I'll try to update more regularly from now on! Please drop me a review if you have a chance, it's nice to know if people are still reading this (and enjoying it!). Thank you!<p>

_Coming up: Will Lola and Peter make it work, or is it Lauren that he really wants? Will Abi listen to Cora's advice? And will she discover Jay's secret?_


	11. Chapter 11

"I don't know, Nan.." Abi sighed. She wanted to make up with Max, because he was still her Dad even after everything he'd said. Plus, in all fairness, he had been trying to make it up to her for weeks now. Of course, she wasn't going to listen to a word he said when he kept implying that keeping this baby was going to ruin her life.

"Look, Heaven knows that I'm not your father's biggest fan," Cora replied. They were sat on her sofa, each with a cup of tea in their hands. Abi had been spending a lot of time here recently. As much as she loved being with Jay, the B&B had next to no privacy and their room could get seriously cramped. When he wasn't there, it was just boring. "But I think you're going to want that little baby of yours to have a Grandad in it's life. Max is the only one he or she is going to get."

Abi looked down at the cup on her lap. She knew that Cora was right about this one. Sadly, since both of Jay's parents had passed away, their baby's only grandparents would be Max and Tanya. And Cora was right - Abi didn't want their baby growing up without his or her's Grandad. She was just being stubborn, albeit with good reason in her opinion. Max deserved a place in not only her life, but the baby's. If he could only understand that she did genuinely want this baby, and so did Jay. They were going to be a family, no matter what Max said. She loved Jay and she trusted him more than anyone else in the world, so when he said he would always be there for her and their family, she believed him. Besides, Jay was over the moon about this and so was she.

"Yeah, I think you're right," Abi confessed.

"I'm always right, love, you'll realize that soon enough," Cora teased with a wink.

"Yeah, right, " Abi laughed, shaking her head. "I just want him to be supportive, you know? I was expecting him to be angry but..."

"But?"

"But he actually thinks I'm ruining my life, Nan. He doesn't realize that I'm not like him. I'm not going to abandon my child when I get bored in a few years, I'm not going to leave Jay the second something better comes along. Because I'm not going to get bored and I know I'll never want anyone but Jay."

"And that's a good thing," Cora replied gently. "But your Dad is just looking out for you. Or, at least, trying to. In his own little way."

"I guess," she shrugged, not entirely convinced.

"Maybe..." Cora slurred. "Maybe you should tell your Dad what you just told me? Make him see that you know what you're doing. That way he knows that you've thought this through."

"I have."

"So tell him that then. Show him that you're an adult making an adult decision, and all you want from him is his support."

"...It can't do any harm to hear him out, I suppose."

"So you'll talk to him?"

"Yeah, I'll talk to him," she breathed. "I just hope he'll actually listen to me for once in his life."

"If he does, let me know," Cora laughed. "I'll have to check for flying pigs."

* * *

><p>Jay thanked the customer once again as the man got in his car. Once he was gone, Jay made his way back inside the Arches and handed to money to Phil, who put it in the tin. Sometimes, he wondered if he really wanted to be a mechanic all of his life. He'd always appreciated the job, mostly for the money, but it wasn't really a career. Not a career that he enjoyed, anyway. Ever since they'd found out about Abi's pregnancy, he'd been thinking about what he could do with his life. He had a family to look after now. Money was already tight enough and the baby wasn't even due for another four and a half months. He'd turned down Phil's offer for extra shifts, even though he'd been planning on taking it. Phil just seemed to pity him and Jay hated that; he didn't need pity and he definitely didn't need Phil's money. Only, now, he was starting to think that he did. Abi hadn't said anything, but he knew that she thought he should have taken the overtime. She was earning barely anything waitressing for Ian, so he couldn't blame her for thinking he was dumb to turn down money he would have earned through hard work.<p>

"Phil…" Jay cleared his throat, crossing his arms defensively across his chest.

"Yeah?" Phil replied questioningly, not looking up from the desk.

"Can I…" Jay started, before shutting his mouth again. He really didn't know how to go about this. When Phil looked up at him expectantly, he continued. "Look, you know about...you know those extra shifts you mentioned a few weeks back?"

That seemed to catch Phil's attention, as he put down the pen and leaned back in the seat. "What about them?"

"Well…I know I turned them down, but I was just wond-"

"- They're yours if you want them," Phil interrupted, causing Jay to go quiet. He hadn't expected that.

"Oh. Really?" He asked, to which the other male simply nodded. "That's...that's great, cheers"

"Anytime," Phil replied as he stood up, walking out of the garage. "Get this car finished, I have business to take care of."

He ran a hand over his face, sighing. His phone started to ring in his pocket, just as Dexter climbed up out of the pit.

"Where's Phil gone?" Dexter asked.

Jay didn't answer as he pulled the phone out of his pocket and, seeing that it was an unknown number, he answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, hot stuff."

_**Kitty.**_

He almost didn't recognize her voice. Why the hell was she ringing him? He'd told her months ago to stop bothering him and he hadn't heard from her since so he'd happily deleted her number from his phone.

"Jay? Come on, don't say you haven't missed me," she giggled and he wanted to be sick. Dexter was looking at him in confusion, mouthing '_who is it?'_ as he washed his hands in the sink.

"Why the hell are you calling me?" He asked, demandingly.

"I missed you," she purred, and he was assuming she was trying to be sexy - and failing miserably. "Didn't you miss me? Oh, Jay, you're so cruel."

"I told you not to call me anymore, Kitty," he replied through clenched teeth. He watched as Dexter's eyes widened.

"You're not still with that girlfriend of yours, are you?" She asked. "I thought you two would have called it quits by now. You two must be getting along then?"

"Yeah, actually, we're really happy if you must know."

"Well, that's a shame. For me, that is." Jay could practically see her smirk through the phone. "We all know what you do when there's trouble in paradise….I just thought I'd remind you. Next time you realize she's not enough for you, just give me a call. Hey, you never know, I might pay you a visit. It's _Walford_, right?"

He didn't reply and the line was silent for a second before she let out another laugh.

"See ya around, Jay."

Just like that, she'd hung up. Was this actually happening? Was this girl for real? He shoved his phone back into his pocket and let out a frustrated sigh.

"What the hell was that?!" Dexter questioned furiously. "Why is Kitty calling you!?"

He wish he had the answer to that question. Did she just want to wind him up? Was she enough of a spiteful little bitch to stir up trouble with a bloke she met once?! It certainly looked that way. What the hell was he supposed to do now? Should he call her back, try and get some answers? Or would that just be feeding the troll? He couldn't believe this was happening. Things with him and Abi were amazing, they were going to have a baby soon, and now this was happening? There was no way he would let some bored tart get in the way of their future together.

"Jay, will you please say something?!" Dexter walked over, giving him a shove.

"I don't know what she wanted," Jay sighed. "She's just trying to cause trouble, don't worry about it."

"Seriously?! Jay, bruv, this is messed up," Dexter spat. "Maybe you should just come clean."

"What? Are you mad?" Jay asked, shaking his head. "I'm not going to let one _**stupid **_mistake that happened _months _ago ruin my life. If Abi ever found out…"

"...It would kill her," Dexter finished his sentence for him.

"Exactly," Jay sighed. "She doesn't need this, Dext. She's four and a half months pregnant, for crying out loud."

"I know."

"That's why we agreed… Abi can **never **know."

"...Abi can _**never **_know."

* * *

><p>Short chapter and no Jabi. Probably the opposite of Jabi, actually...Haha. But anyway, what do you think Jay did with Kitty?! Let me know in a review. Or just tell me what you think of the story in a review. I'm not picky. ;)<p>

Thanks for reading!


	12. Chapter 12

"How crazy is it that we'll be parents next Christmas?" Jay mused, as he interlocked his fingers with Abi's.

"Yeah, it's pretty crazy," Abi replied, rubbing her thumb against the back of Jay's hand and shutting the B&B door behind them.

It was Christmas Day, and the two of them were on their way to Max's. Abi had taken Cora's advice that day and given her Dad another chance, which had been the right thing to do. He'd apologized for what he'd said and agreed to support her decision, if she was sure about it. Abi knew that he'd just been protective about his little girl, and it was understandable that he thought having a baby would hold her back. Max had jumped to the worst possible scenario and said something he didn't mean - just like she had when she'd first faced the thought of being a teenage mother. So she'd been understanding and agreed to put it behind them. She was good at holding a grudge though, so she couldn't say she'd forgiven him completely but she'd given him the silent treatment for long enough. Plus, it was Christmas and that was all about family. Next year, the family would have another addition and she couldn't wait. Neither could Jay.

"You've made me so happy, you know that?" Jay smiled at her lovingly.

"I know," she smirked and nudged him teasingly, making him laugh."You make me happy too, dummy, for the record."

"Do I?" He asked quietly, causing Abi to stop walking and look up at him with a frown.

"What? Of course you do," she laughed, incredulously shaking her head. "Why would you even question that?"

"I just…" he sighed, glancing down at their linked fingers as she stood in front of him. "I just don't deserve you, that's all."

"Jay, that's ridiculous," she smiled sadly, reaching for his other hand so that she was holding both his hands. "I love you. Why wouldn't you _deserve_ me?"

"Because you're beautiful, and kind, and _good_," Jay argued. "I'm not good, Abs."

"What?" She frowned, before sucking in a breath. "Listen to me, Jay; you are a good person, okay? You are the most loving, thoughtful, _**honest** _person I've ever met in my life. I don't know why you'd think any differently."

Jay smiled silently, leaning down to kiss her. A few seconds later, she pulled away.

"I love you."

"I love you too," Abi replied with a soft smile. "...You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Like what?" He questioned, his heart stopping for a second. She didn't know anything was up, did she?

"Like _anything.._" she shrugged, innocently. There was something up with him, she just didn't know what. She trusted him, but considering the last secret he kept for her was covering up a murder - she just wanted him to know she would be there for him. "You can talk to me, Jay. I **need** you to talk to me."

"All _I_ want to talk about is how in five days time, we're going to get to see our baby again," he smiled, walking towards Max's house.

"Okay, we can talk about that," she smiled, biting her lower lip. She knew there was something he was keeping from her, but she wasn't going to push; whatever was bothering him, she was sure he'd tell her in his own time. "You're sure you want to find out if it's a boy or a girl, right?"

"I already know, it's a boy," Jay smirked.

"Don't start this again, I'm telling you it's a girl," Abi argued, playfully. "I can **feel** it."

"You can **_feel_ **it?" He laughed. He didn't actually think anything, he'd be happy whatever they had. But Abi was determined about it being a girl, so naturally, he had to insist it was a boy. "I can feel it, in my bones."

"Well I can feel it in my **_womb_**, so there," she smirked, as she started to climb the steps to the Branning house. "I win."

"Yeah, you always win," he rolled his eyes as she threw another smirk of her shoulder. Watching her knock on the door, he sighed. "You always forget your damn key too."

"Shut up," she scoffed, but he didn't have a chance to fight back before Tanya was opening the door and they were greeted by a string of greetings and Christmas wishes. Max and Tanya had agreed to do Christmas together this year, seeing as they were both in Walford anyway. Cora and Dot were also there, and of course Lauren and Oscar.

He finally knew what it was like to have a proper family, and next year would only be better.

* * *

><p>Abi was sat on the sofa watching Oscar play with his toys. She couldn't help but laugh at how imaginative he could be, making the noises to go along with the train and doing all the different voices as his toys fought with each other. She was perfectly happy sat there alone (Tanya had roped Jay into helping in the kitchen), until her Dad sat down next to her.<p>

"I'm glad you came," Max smiled.

"Yeah, so am I," she agreed, returning the smile. "I mean, there's nothing quite like Grandma Dot's pudding.."

"Very true," Max laughed. "But, seriously, I'm really glad we're okay now. You know I didn't mean what I said when I found out about the baby. I was just surprised."

"I know," Abi nodded, looking down at her lap. "But it's okay. I mean you've apologized and we're on the same page now, right?"

"Right," Max coughed. "As long as you're sure this is what you want."

"I'm sure, Dad. I get that you're worried but there's no reason to be. I _want_ this, and so does Jay," she smiled, catching Jay's eye as he walked into the living room. "I know it won't be easy, but we're going to make it work."

"Guess I was wrong about him, huh?" He admitted, motioning over to Jay.

"Yeah, you were," she laughed. "He's a good guy, Dad. He loves me and he'll love this baby."

"Well, the deal still stands," Max sighed. "If he hurts you, I'll kill him."

"He's not going to hurt me," she rolled her eyes. "I trust him."

"Really?"

"Of course," she smiled, glancing back up at her boyfriend. He was typing (texting?) on his phone, which she wouldn't have thought twice about usually but he didn't look too happy. Maybe it was just Dexter winding him up about something. "I...I trust him more than anyone."

And she did. That was the truth; there was nobody in the world she trusted more than Jay. Nobody she loved more, nobody she wanted to be with more, nobody who made her happier. It was Jay, it would **always **be Jay.

Max was now on the floor playing with Oscar, and Lauren who had joined them. So Abi stood up and made her way over to Jay. She brushed her long locks down over one shoulder, tucking a stray curl behind her ear.

"Hey, you okay?" She asked gently, placing her hand on his arm as a display of comfort. He gave her a smile which she could clearly see he was forcing, and it made her heart drop slightly to think he was hiding something.

"Yeah, I'm fine," He laughed. "Have I told you how beautiful you look today?"

"You might have mentioned it once or twice, yeah," she smiled - he'd told her _much_ more than once or twice. She looked down at her floral dress, which went to just above her knee. Her bump wasn't that big, it wasn't _that_ noticeable really, but it was definitely there. She looked back up at him with a huff, knowing he was trying to change the subject. "You sure you're okay?"

"Babe, I'm **_fine_**. I promise," he answered quickly, before he kissed her on the cheek and walked passed her.

She watched him walk out of the living room, but when his back was to her, she couldn't see the guilt etched across his features.

* * *

><p>A few hours later and Max, Tanya, Cora and even Dot had gone to the Vic. Lauren had taken Oscar up to bed, after he'd eventually passed out in the middle of all of his new toys. So Jay and Abi were sat on the sofa alone, quite content with her cuddled into his side with his arm around her. Their peace lasted all of two minutes however, when the doorbell rung. Just as Jay moved to go answer it, Lauren shouted that she would get it as she ran back down the stairs. Jay frowned at Abi, silently searching for an explanation, but Abi just shrugged. She knew as much as he did at that point.<p>

"Hiya, you guys! Merry Christmas!" Lola cheered as she burst through the living room door.

"Lola, hey.." Abi smiled, standing up to hug her friend. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Lo," Jay echoed. "What are you doing here? Where's Lexi? And Peter?"

Just like that, Peter walked through the door with a sheepish Lauren behind him. Abi pretended she didn't see the look they shared before Lola grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her.

"Lexi's out cold at Phil's," Lola replied, taking off her coat and making herself at home. "Lauren invited us over."

"_Did_ she?" Abi asked, glancing at her sister.

"Yep…" Lauren breathed, looking down at her feet.

"Oh, well I was going to call you anyway so I'm glad you're here," Abi smiled.

"I'll go get us some drinks from the kitchen," Lauren suggested.

"Yeah, I'll help you," Peter said awkwardly, following Lauren out of the living room and leaving Lola to glare at the two of them.

"Lola…" Abi began but was interrupted by Oscar coming down the stairs calling for her. "Hey, Os, where you going?"

"I can't sleep," the boy shrugged.

"Oh, so you can sleep on the floor in the middle of your toys but not in bed?" Abi asked, to which Oscar nodded adamantly.

"Come on, mate, I'll read you a story," Jay breathed as he stood up.

"Thank you," Abi mouthed in relief.

"You're welcome," he mouthed back, giving Abi a wink before following Oscar up the stairs.

"Don't you dare tell him I said this," Lola whispered, once Jay was up the stairs. "But he's going to be an **_amazing_ **Dad."

"Yeah," Abi smiled almost sadly, moving to sit back down on the sofa. "Yeah, I know he is."

"Abs? Is everything okay?" Lola questioned, crossing her arms as she sat down next to Abi.

"I don't know…" Abi sighed, running a hand over her face. "He's been acting really weird."

"_Weird_? Weird how?"

"Just...**weird**," she shrugged. "Like there's something he wants to tell me.."

"What do you mean?" Lola shook her head in confusion.

"I don't know," Abi looked down, nervously playing with the hem of her dress. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but earlier...He was on his phone and, I don't know what it was but he looked really worried. **_Guilty_ **even."

"Oh," Lola replied. "Well, I'm sure it's nothing."

"Yeah," Abi sighed. "Yeah, it's probably nothing."

She wanted to believe that so badly, but she knew Jay and she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. She just couldn't put her finger on what is was.

* * *

><p>"I don't know, Dext," Jay sighed in frustration, holding the phone to his ear as he shut the door to Oscar's bedroom. A quick story and the boy was out like a light. "She's been texting me all day."<p>

"She's a flamin' nutcase, bruv," Dexter replied.

"Yeah, you're telling me."

"Don't bite my head off, alright? But maybe you should tell Abi.."

"Are you **_nuts_**?! Absolutely not. You know what this would to do her, Dext."

"Well, you should have thought about that, shouldn't you!" Dexter spat. "But no, you didn't **_think_ **at all, did you?"

"No, I didn't, and now I could lose **everything** because it," Jay angrily whispered through clenched teeth.

"And _when_ you do, it'll be your own damn fault," Dexter argued. "This is your mess, Jay, nobody else's."

"So what do I do?"

"You tell her," Dexter stated clearly. "You tell her what you did."

* * *

><p>So, Abi knows something's up... Let me know what you think by dropping me a review. Thanks for reading!<p> 


	13. Chapter 13

"Why are you so nervous?" Jay asked with a laugh. She was adorable when she got like this - all fidgety and restless. He always knew when she was on edge about something, the way that she'd bite her nails or twirl her hair. Plus the fact that she got the cutest look on her face when she was anxious; her eyebrows furrowed and lips pressed together.

"I don't know, I just am," Abi replied with a shrug. Jay didn't seem to be too bothered about this - he was just overly excited, as usual. Which was cute and it _did_ make her feel better. He had a habit of doing that; calming her down whenever she worked herself into a frenzy. All he had to do was **be** there and she grew more composed.

They were sat in the waiting room at the clinic, waiting for their appointment. It was their 20 week scan, which meant they were going to see their baby again and find out whether they were having a boy or a girl. Neither of them minded, of course, but it was still exciting to be finding out. Well, exciting and _extremely nerve wrecking_ for Abi.

She didn't know why she was so nervous. Actually she did - what if something was wrong with the baby? That was the entire point of these scans, after all, to make sure the baby was okay. Maybe she was worrying about nothing, or maybe she was just even more neurotic now that she was a mother-to-be.

"We really should sign up for one of these childbirth classes, babe," Jay mused, as he picked up a leaflet off the table in front of them. "They do them at the community centre, don't they? Lola was supposed to go when she was having Lexi. Don't think she did, mind you."

She knew that he was just trying to distract her from her paranoia, which made her smile, so she lightened up a bit.

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea," she agreed, motioning for him to pass her the leaflet. "You'll come with me, right?"

"Of course I will, you muppet," he scoffed, and they both laughed. After a few seconds, the midwife appeared and said she was ready for them. Jay and Abi both stood up, and Jay turned to her with a grin. "Not too late to change your mind, you know."

"About what?" Abi asked with a frown as she followed the midwife.

"Thinking it's a girl when it's _obviously_ a boy.." Jay teased.

"**It's** a girl," Abi said, determinedly.

Just a few minutes later, Abi was sat on the chair with Jay stood next to her. He held her hand tightly as the midwife squirted the cold gel onto her stomach.

"Here you go," the midwife said gently, turning the screen towards them. "One strong, healthy little baby."

It was different to the last time they'd seen it, when it was just a tiny little blob. This time, it looked...it looked more like a baby. _**Their** _baby.

"Oh my God," Jay breathed, placing a kiss on Abi's hand.

"Yeah.." Abi smiled at Jay, before turning back to the midwife. "And everything's okay? I mean, it's okay?"

"It's perfect," the midwife confirmed. "Did you want to find out the sex?"

They both nodded in response, before smiling at one another.

"Okay," the midwife continued. "Then, congratulations...You're having a baby girl."

"A _girl_?" Abi echoed, biting her lip.

"We're having a girl.." Jay repeated, laughing.

"I **told** you!" She turned to Jay with a laugh.

"You did, you told me," Jay chuckled, leaning down to kiss her. "I can't believe it. We're going to have a daughter!"

* * *

><p>The next day, it was New Years Eve and the entire square seemed to have cramped into the Vic. Jay and Abi were currently sat in the corner with Peter, Lola, Dexter, Lauren and Lucy. Whitney had been with them too, but she was too busy flirting with the new guy.<p>

"It's a bit weird, ain't it?" Lola spoke up, causing everyone at the table to look at her.

"What is?" Peter asked.

"Kat and Alfie _not_ being behind the bar.." Lola replied as if it were obvious.

"I can't believe Phil chucked them out," Dexter sighed, shaking her head. "No, **actually**, I can."

"He was never going to let them get away with it," Jay replied. "Not after everything that went down with them and Roxy."

"Still, the new people seem nice enough," Abi added.

"Whitney seems to like them," Lauren laughed.

"Whitney seems to like **_Johnny_**, there's a difference," Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Don't start, Luce, please," Peter sighed.

"What? It's true," Lucy shrugged. "You know what she's like, any guy that pays her even a _bit_ of attention.."

"Lucy," Lauren reprimanded, shaking her head. Lucy scoffed arrogantly, folding her arms across her chest.

An awkward silence fell over them, all of them unsure what to say now.

"So, we have some news," Jay broke the silence, reaching for Abi's hand.

"Oh my _**God**_, you're pregnant?!" Lola responded sarcastically, making everyone laugh.

"Yes..." Abi replied. "...And we're having a girl."

The announcement was met with a chorus of '_congratulations_!' from around the table. Jay and Abi both grinned, as Jay put his arm around his girlfriend and she cuddled into his side.

"Oh, you guys, Lexi's gonna have a friend!" Lola announced excitedly. "Oh, oh, they can have playdates and _sleepovers_ and share clothes and they can do **_ballet_ **together and-"

"Lo, can I give birth before you join our daughters at the hip please?" Abi interrupted with a giggle.

"I'm sorry, I'm just **_so_ **happy for you guys," Lola replied, emotionally.

"Yeah me too," Lauren chipped in. "But why did you tell Mum and Dad that you didn't find out?"

"Because I wanted another 24 hours of peace before Mum started painting everything pink," Abi responded with a smirk, which Lauren mirrored as she nodded in understanding.

"Painting everything pink?" Abi looked up when Whitney appeared, having missed the conversation. The older girl gasped in realization. "You're having a girl! Oh my God, congratulations!"

"Cheers Whit," Jay said as he stood up. "Right, I'll get us another round."

"I'll come with you, mate," Peter said, and Dexter quickly followed them, leaving just the girls sat at the table.

Lola shuffled over to sit closer to Abi, now that Peter and Jay weren't sat between them. "So, everything's okay with you two now?"

"Yeah, I guess," Abi shrugged. Truthfully, she didn't think everything was alright but Jay had insisted several times that she was worrying about nothing. And she trusted him, 100%.

"Sure about that?" Lola asked quietly, glancing over to see Lucy, Lauren and Whitney caught up in their own conversation. "Cause you were pretty upset last night."

"I just got over emotional, that's all," Abi replied. "You know, with the scan and everything."

"Abs.."

"Look, I just have to trust him. That's what _you_ said, Lola," Abi argued, silently grateful that the music was so loud that nobody would be able to hear them if they kept their voices down. "And I do trust him, more than **_anyone_**, but…"

"But...?"

"_But_…." Abi sighed. "I don't know. Most of the time he's just **_Jay_ **but then other times, it's like he's put up this wall, you know? Like there's something he's hiding from me and maybe you're right, maybe it's nothing, but what if it's _not _nothing?"

"Well, what do you think it is?"

"I don't know. I really don't know and **that's** what scares me."

Lola nodded, looking away from Abi and frowning. Noticing her eyes scanning the bar, Abi turned around to find Peter and Dexter stood there. _Without_ Jay.

"He's...probably just in the bathroom," Lola said hesitantly, forcing a shaky smile.

Abi huffed. He'd done this disappearing act once too often recently. He was constantly walking out of the room when his phone ran, or worse, flat out ignoring the calls when he was around her. Just the other day, she'd got back to B&B and he'd hung up what looked like a pretty heated conversation as soon as he noticed her. It scared her.

"Dext!" Abi shouted, now cursing the music that echoed around them. "Dexter! Peter!"

Peter turned around, followed immediately by Dexter.

"Where's Jay?" Abi asked as loud as she could.

"Oh, he's just on th-" Peter began to answer her, but was quickly interrupted by Dexter.

"_Bathroom_, he's in the bathroom,"

Abi turned to Lola with a '_**see**_?' look on her face. Lola sighed, shaking her head.

"Right, okay, go find him," Lola advised, practically shoving her out of her seat. As she stood up and headed for the bathrooms, Jay walked into the pub, sliding his phone into his pocket.

"What, bathroom's outside now, is it?" Abi asked, clenching her teeth.

"What?"

"Dexter just told me you were in the bathroom. Why would he say that, Jay?"

"I don't know, I…" Jay stuttered. "I didn't say where I was going, he probably just assumed."

"Oh really?" Abi raised an eyebrow. "Peter was going to tell me where you _really_ were and Dexter **politely** interrupted to **_lie_ **for you. What the hell is going on?"

"Nothing," Jay defended himself, stepping closer to his pregnant girlfriend and reaching for her arm. "Abs, you're being crazy."

"I'm _being crazy_? You're the one who keeps sneaking off and taking mysterious calls! You're the one who keeps lying to me and acting guilty all the time."

"Abi-"

"Shut up, Jay, just _shut up_," Abi turned around, walking back to the table. Ignoring the fact that they were all looking at her, she put on her coat and reached for her bag.

"What are you doing?" Jay asked as he watched her. "Abi, where are you going?"

"**Home**."

"Abs, come on, there's only an hour until midnight..."

"Have a good night, you guys." Abi smiled, before turning back to Jay. "I'm _not_ being crazy, I know I'm not. Don't you **dare** follow me."

With that, she stormed out and didn't look back.

* * *

><p>Abi sobbed as she held the blanket around her tightly, letting the tears run down her cheeks. Her eyes were blotchy, her make-up had ran and she'd changed into her pyjamas. She'd taken her hair pins out, freeing her blonde locks from the half up, half down style she'd spent ages doing earlier than night. Now, her hair was lazily put up on in a messy bun. She imagined she looked a right state, but she didn't care.<p>

She knew she probably looked like a right idiot earlier, storming out of the pub like that all because Jay had taken a phone call. She hadn't even given her boyfriend a chance to explain himself before she was running across the square trying not to cry, but she didn't _need_ him to explain himself. It would all be lies, anyway.

There was something going on that he wasn't telling her about. She may not have had any proof, but she knew Jay better than **_anyone_**, and she damn well knew when he wasn't telling her the entire truth. Maybe trusting him was harder than she'd thought...But he wasn't giving her a lot of reasons to trust him, was he? Not when he was acting so sketchy. On top of all of that, she was an emotional, **_hormonal_ **wreck and she didn't need him adding to that.

But he was. He was making her feel like she was going mad, but she knew the signs. She knew this, because _this_ was her entire childhood. No, stuff that, this was her entire **life**. She'd watched her Mum go on as if nothing was wrong, when her own daughters could sense that their Dad was up to no good most of the time. Abi had watched as Tanya forgave Max, time and time again, simply because, no matter what he did, he was the love of her life. Just like Jay was the love of Abi's life. It killed her to think that he was lying to her and she knew - she **_knew_ **- that he was.

She wasn't saying that Jay was cheating on her, he'd never do that...Would he? No, of course not. He loved her, he loved their baby, and they were going to be a proper family. They weren't her parents, she told herself. Maybe she was overreacting, just being a silly little girl as usual. But she just couldn't shake the feeling that something was up. And if there wasn't someone else, then what was it? The last time he was lying to her, he was covering up Ben killing Heather for crying out loud! But Ben was in prison, so it couldn't be anything like that again. But she hated this, she **_hated_ **secrets and Jay knew that. So why was he being so secretive?

The door opened and she looked up to see Jay stood there. He slowly stepped inside, almost hesitantly, before shutting the door behind him quietly, as if he was trying not to startle her. Which only made her want to scream at him; she wasn't a china doll. Whatever it was he was hesitating about, he could tell her. She **_wanted_ **him to tell her. Even if it meant her entire world falling apart, it would be better than feeling like a paranoid lunatic.

"Calmed down yet?" He asked softly, sitting himself down at the edge of the bed.

"No," she replied bluntly, turning to gaze out of the window like she had been doing. It must have only been a few minutes to midnight, because a crowd had excitedly gathered around the square as the fireworks were being set up.

"Abi.." Jay sighed. He felt awful lying to her, knowing that she was hurting because of him. But he'd told himself (_and_ Dexter) that it was for the best. If she knew, she'd be hurting even more than she was now.

He'd tried so hard to keep composed. He was trying to forget all about that stupid mistake - but it was hard to keep your cool when your **_stupid mistake_** was basically stalking you. Ever since Dexter had come back from visiting Ava in Newcastle, all he'd gone on about was how Jay should tell Abi the truth before someone else did. And he'd tried, honestly he tried, which he was sure had just made her all the more suspicious. But he couldn't do it; he just couldn't bring himself break her heart.

Even if, deep down, he knew he already had.

"What, Jay?" Abi asked, furiously rubbing at her eyes with her sleeve. "What? Are you going to tell me that I'm **_crazy_ **again? Because you can just save it."

"No, I.." Jay spoke, eyelids fluttering downwards. He wanted so badly to comfort her, but the only way to do that was to do what was upsetting her in the first place - lie to her. "I'm **sorry** for calling you crazy, but I promise you're making something out of nothing."

"Okay then, so who was on the phone tonight?"

"Phil."

"So why did Dexter say you were in the bathroom?"

"Because he's a moron who didn't know where I was?"

Abi looked at him straight in the eye, trying to figure him out. Was he lying to her again? Why wouldn't Dexter just tell her he didn't know where he was? It was too suspicious and it was happening all the time. She was tired of it. But she was also tired, period. Actually she was exhausted from all the crying, and the fact she was barely sleeping these days because she was so uncomfortable all the time didn't help.

"Promise you're not lying to me, Jay," she cried.

"I promise," Jay smiled. He felt sick. He felt **_physically_ **sick. More than anything, he hated himself for what he was doing to her - for what he was doing to them. But he couldn't undo it, no matter how much he wanted to, and he was just trying to protect her. He didn't want their future to go down the train just because of one bad decision.

"Okay," Abi nodded. Jay reached for her hand, but she flinched back, bringing both her hands up to her knees. She turned her head so that she wasn't looking at him, instead watching from the window as the large swarm of people outside did their New Year countdown.

_...29, 28, 27..._

"Hey, listen," Jay spoke softly, determinedly reaching for her hands and pulling them towards him. This time, Abi let him, but she didn't look at him. "I **love** you. More than anything in this world, I _**love** _you, and _that_ I can promise you. I can promise you that there's nothing I want more than you and our little princess."

_...16, 15, 14..._

"Yeah?" Abi questioned, looking at him with a smile when he mentioned their little princess.

"Yeah," Jay nodded shuffling over on the bed so that he was by her side. "And I can promise you that 2014's going to be the best year yet."

_...7, 6, 5..._

"I love you."

"I love you too."

_...3, 2, 1..._

Neither of them said anything as the "_Happy New Year_!"s filled the square, quickly followed by the loud eruption of fireworks. Instead, Jay pressed his lips against Abi's and she happily let him. They both smiled as they kissed passionately, listening to the constant streams of fireworks going off just outside. They may not have been perfect, but whatever happened - when it **_really_ **mattered, they loved each other and that was enough.

* * *

><p>Pretty sure this is my longest chapter to date? Hope you enjoyed the ChristmasNew Year stuff in the middle of August, haha! They may have _literally_ gone off in this update, but there's even more explosive fireworks to come next chapter;) Please let me know what you think by dropping me a review - it would be highly appreciated. x


	14. Chapter 14

"Hey, where do you want to go for Valentine's Day?" Jay asked. "Beale's? Or we could up West? You know seeing it's our last Valentine's Day where we don't have to make childcare arrangements.."

Abi laughed, rolling his eyes at his comment. They were both sat on the bed, Jay on his phone and Abi doing coursework.

"Valentine's Day isn't for another – what? Two weeks?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Twelve days," Jay replied and Abi laughed in amusement. "What? I heard it on the radio like a hundred time today at work."

"Yeah right," she rolled her eyes.

"It's true! He defended himself with a teasing smirk. "So, come on then, where should we go?"

"I don't know, Jay," she shrugged, struggling to get comfortable. Her baby bump was really starting to get in the way now, especially when she was trying to do stuff for sixth form. It didn't help that Jay's room was so small that it was literally just the bed and the wardrobe, which could get quite claustrophobic when she worked herself up into a state. Even when she was in college, her mood swings and exhaustion made it really difficult to concentrate on her work. It's safe to say that being six months pregnant was even harder than it looked.

"Right, that's it, what's wrong?" Jay questioned, pushing himself up on the bed.

"Nothing, I'm fine," she spat.

"That's what you always say when you're not fine," he retorted. When she didn't say anything, he sighed and reached for her hand. "Abi, talk to me."

"I just..." she started, but stopped herself. She ran a hand over her face, before chucking her pen and paper to the floor in frustration. "I just can't concentrate, and you rambling on about flamin' Valentine's Day isn't really helping. Honestly, Jay, where we're going to eat twelve days from now is the least of my worries."

"...Okay," Jay replied. Over the past few months, he'd grown more than used to the random outbursts of anger. She had a temper before, but the baby hormones were making her a little crazy with it. "Alright, it doesn't matter."

"I'm sorry," she sighed, shaking her head.

"Don't be daft, it's fine," he smiled, squeezing her hand.

"No, it's not," she looked down. "I just don't know what to do."

"About what?"

"Sixth form."

"You're not still considering dropping out, are you?"

"I don't know, maybe?"

"Abs..."

"Look, it would just be temporary. I can go back in September," Abi explained. "My exams start in May – a month after I'm due. How am I supposed to revise with a newborn baby?"

"How are you going to revise next year with a one-year old?" Jay questioned.

"I know, but I don't want to stress myself out too much now," she shrugged, rubbing her growing bump.

"You won't be, babe," Jay sighed. "You'll have me. I'll be here, as much as I can, okay? I'll do everything I can to help you, you know that."

"I know," she smiled. She knew how lucky she was to have him, and she knew he was going to be there for her and the baby, but she was still unsure. "Maybe you're right."

"Just stick to it for now, yeah?" He suggested. "You've come so close, babe. You said yourself it's just another month or two before it's all revision, then the exams."

"Yeah, and how am I going to do the exams a month after giving birth?"

"Look, I'll do all the night feeds, okay?" Jay said, making them both laugh. "I promise, all of them – or, at least when you have an exam the next day. And you'll have your parents, your nan, Dot, Dexter, Lola, Lauren..."

"Okay, okay, I get it," she laughed, rolling her eyes playfully. "I'll stay in sixth form."

"Good," he grinned, before letting out an over-dramatic sigh. "...Fancy a takeaway?"

"Yeah," she laughed. "Like what?"

"Indian?"

"...Or chips?"

"Why not Indian?"

"Because your daughter wants chips," she insisted, throwing him a smirk as she placed both hands on her baby bump. She'd been using that excuse for her entire pregnancy, and she was fully intending on using it right up until she gave birth. Hell, she'd use it even after giving birth if she could. "And she doesn't like Indian food."

"Fine, fine," he sighed teasingly, shaking his head as he got up off the bed.

"I love you," she smiled, gently rubbing her bump again. "And she loves you too."

"Yeah, well I'm pretty lovable," he smirked, leaning over to give her a kiss – which she quite happily responded to.

"Mhmm, yes you are," she nodded, before giving him a slight nudge. "Now go, I'm starving."

"Bloody cheek," he muttered, biting back a smirk as Abi laughed.

Jay shut the door behind him, and Abi laid down in bed. She was genuinely happy and she couldn't believe she'd ever doubted something was wrong. Ever since New Year, things had been going really well between them. She wasn't sure what had changed, and Lola still thought she should have pushed harder about what was going on, but she didn't care now. They were happy now – they were perfect, actually. Maybe she was just being paranoid at the time, but everything was okay now. She trusted him.

She moved off the bed to pick the papers off the floor, putting them on the tiny bedside cupboard. As she did so, she heard Jay's phone vibrating on the bed. He must have forgotten to pick it up before he left. She fought the urge to roll her eyes – he'd forget his head if it wasn't screwed on. She leaned over to see who it was and saw it was an unknown number, so she just ignored it and sat back down on the bed. It eventually stopped ringing, but just a few seconds later, it was ringing again. His ringtone did her head in, so she quickly picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Who's this? Where's Jay?" A female voice came through the phone, and Abi frowned.

"This is Abi, his girlfriend..." she replied, confusedly. "Who's this?"

"Abi...his girlfriend," the girl replied, as if she'd come to a realization. "Can you do me a favour? Tell your precious Jay that I'm not going to be his dirty little secret anymore."

* * *

><p>Jay couldn't help the smile plastered across his face as he walked back to the B&amp;B. Everything was genuinely perfect and he couldn't have been happier. He'd come so close to losing it all, but he'd managed to not have any contact with Kitty for almost a week now. She clearly craved the attention, and he was giving her that everytime he dealt with another of her threats. They were clearly empty threats, considering it was usually the fact that she knew where he (and Abi) lived if she decided one day to pop by Walford. It wasn't easy to cut someone off when they were threatening to show up on your doorstep.<p>

It didn't matter, anyway, considering she seemed to get the hint. Dexter seemed to think that she'd leave him get on with his life with Abi and their daughter now, and he could only pray that was true. He barely even knew her - she was just some tart he met on holiday, yet she had his entire life in her hands. All it would take was one word from her and...well, he could lose Abi and their baby. He could lose his entire world, just like that, all because of one stupid moment of madness. Maybe Dexter was right, maybe he should have confessed everything to Abi as soon as it happened. But she was pregnant, for crying out loud. He didn't want to cause her any unnecessary stress or upset.

As he entered the B&B, he noted how quiet it was before immediately going upstairs to his and Abi's room.

"Sorry it took so long, it was crazy busy for some reason?" He froze as he looked up and saw her stood there, tears running down her cheeks. He put the bag of hot food down on the bedside table, and instinctively reached for her hand to comfort her. "Hey, what's-"

He didn't get to finish his question, due to the surprise as she flinched away from his touch. Hell, he hadn't even touched her before she'd pulled away. He swore his heart actually sunk, and he was almost afraid to ask his next question.

"Babe, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" She echoed mockingly, raising her eyebrows. "My boyfriend's a good for nothing, lying, cheating scumbag – that's what's wrong, _babe_."

* * *

><p>Ooh, look who finally updated this. Between work and college, fanfiction has had to take a bit of a backseat. Which is why this is so short - I don't have the energy to write more, but the next chapter is what I've been building up to for a while now! Pretty much the entire story actually, hahaha. So hopefully that will be longer andor updated sooner. Anyway, thank you so much for reading! If you have a moment spare to drop me a quick review, that would make my day/week/life. Until next time. xo

P.S. How cute were those Jabi scenes at Jay's birthday this week?! They're so adorable. I love that they're still close, even though it's a bit weird to live with your ex because you're 'dating' his 'brother'. Only on EastEnders, seriously.


	15. Chapter 15

Jay froze. In a split second, it was as if his entire world had started to crumble down around him.

"Abi.." He muttered quietly, hesitantly stepping closer to her.

"Don't, Jay, just don't," Abi spat, stepping back towards the wall to distance herself from him. She took a deep breath, instinctively placing her hand on her bump. "...Kitty called."

"Abs, I swear I can explain.."

"I said don't," she hissed, furiously wiping at her tears. She looked down to her feet as she took another deep breath, trying to control herself. After a few uncomfortable seconds of silence, she raised her head again and looked him straight in the eye. "How could you?"

"I don't know what she's said but -"

"- She said that you cheated on me," she cried. "With _her_."

As soon as Jay didn't say anything, Abi knew that it was true. She swore that she felt her heart physically break.

"Oh my God…" she gasped, trying (and failing) to control her breathing as the tears streamed freely down her cheeks.

"Abi, I am so sorry.." Jay pleaded, shaking his head. He felt sick to his stomach at what he'd done - and now she knew. Now, now, he'd hurt her and she was never going to forgive him.

"Oh, you're sorry.." She mumbled sarcastically, unable to even comprehend what she was hearing.

"Please just let me explain…"

"Explain?!" She echoed, as if it was the most insane thing she'd ever heard. "Explain?! What is there to explain, Jay?!"

"Look, I didn't sleep with her, okay?!" He protested, begging her to listen to him. "I swear to you that it didn't go that far."

"No, because Dexter interrupted you, didn't he?!" She hissed, causing Jay to go silent again. "You were upstairs in that pub, half naked with some skank and he walked in before you could get to _the fun part_."

"Kitty told you that?"

"Oh, don't you dare so much as say her name, Jay, I swear to God!" She yelled, covering her face with her hands. She felt broken. She felt completely and utterly broken. After a few moments, she pulled herself together and looked at him again. "Yes, she told me. She told me everything. Every filthy, disgusting, little detail."

"Abi, I swear, nothing else happened," Jay reached for her hand once more - but, again, she moved back before he could so much as touch her.

"And what if Dexter hadn't walked in, Jay?" She asked, raising her eyebrows. "What if Dexter hadn't gone looking for the little skank? What if he hadn't made himself up at home and gone upstairs like she'd invited him to do?! What would have happened then, Jay, hm?"

"Nothing," he insisted. "I swear, Abs, I would never have let it go any further."

"It shouldn't have gone that far!"

"I know! I know, of course I know that," Jay said, unintentionally raising his own voice now to match Abi's. "I regretted it as soon as it happened, okay? I feel sick even thinking about it now, you have to believe that."

"Good!" She cried. "It should make you feel sick. Because you've just thrown away everything that we've got…"

"Please don't say that.."

"Why not? It's true," she shrugged. "Everything that we had? Everything that we were going to have?"

Abi looked down at her bump, rubbing it gently. She looked up again after a few seconds, looking him dead in the eye. "You've just ruined it all. And for what, Jay? For five minutes with some slut that you barely even knew."

"I'm sorry," He pleaded, tears prickling behind his eyelids at the thought of his worst nightmare now coming true. His entire life was falling apart before him - and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it now, because he had nobody to blame but himself.

"Yeah, so you said," she scoffed, moving to the bed. Jay watched her in confusion as she reached under the bed and pulled out a bag.

"Abi, what.." Jay didn't want to ask his next question, because he knew exactly what it was going to be. "What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving," she replied harshly, wiping the tears from her eyes and starting to gather her things.

"Please don't do this…" He pleaded. He rushed towards her, grabbing her arm to turn her around so that she was forced to look at him. Before she could protest, he placed both his hands on each side of her face. "Please, Abi, you can't - you can't do this."

"You did this, Jay." She whimpered. She didn't have any strength left to scream at him anymore - she was exhausted. She pushed his hands away from her face, forcing him to stumble back slightly. "Not me, you."

"Abi, please…" he begged again. "What about the baby?"

"Is that the only reason you're still with me?" She questioned, turning to face him as her stomach sunk. "Because of the baby?"

"What? No, of course not!" He replied. "Abi, I love you. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone, baby or no baby."

"If that were true, you wouldn't have even looked twice at another girl!" She argued, fresh tears now staining her cheeks as she went back to packing her things.

"My head was all over the place, okay?" He tried to defend himself. Even though he knew he didn't deserve her forgiveness, he wasn't going to let her go without a fight. "We were fighting and I thought you didn't want our baby.."

"Oh, so this is my fault now?!"

"That's not what I said, Abi!"

"You may as well have said it!" She screamed. "You would have had sex with her, Jay! If Dexter hadn't have interrupted you, you would have had sex with another girl! Tel me again how that's my fault?"

"I wouldn't have had sex with her!" He insisted. "I didn't want to sleep with her, I will never want to sleep with anyone that isn't you."

"You know, I might have believed that before now," she laughed, even though this was far from funny. "I might have actually believed that I was the only one that you wanted, that I was enough for you. But I'm clearly not."

"Not enough for me?" He repeated. "Abi, you're all I have ever wanted and you are all I've ever wanted. I know I messed up, but you have to trust me on that."

"Trust you?! You've lied to me for months!"

"I know..."

"You made Dexter - my own cousin - lie to me for months!"

"I didn't want to hurt you!"

"Seriously? If you don't want to hurt me, Jay, try not cheating on me in the first place!"

"It was just a kiss, Abs!"

"You are unbelievable, you know that?" She exclaimed. "You were on the sofa, snogging with half your clothes off but you're telling me it was just a kiss?! Then you lie to me for months, but yeah, it was just a kiss so that's okay!"

"Of course it's not okay.." he sighed. "I regretted it as soon as I came to my senses, you have to know that. And when you said you wanted to keep the baby...I've never been so happy. I couldn't ruin all of that over some stupid moment of madness."

She ignored him.

"Abi, please…" he pleaded. "Just tell me how I can make this right."

"Oh, here's an idea," she smiled, falsely. "Make yourself a time machine, go back to last August, and don't snog another girl!"

He sighed, helplessly watching her pack her stuff.

"You're really going to do this?" He asked. "It was one mistake, Abs! Don't punish our baby for my mistake."

"Stop it, Jay, just stop!" She screamed. "My parents split up, I got over it. Would I have liked our little girl to have a bit of stability, a loving home, parents that would look after her and each other? Sure. But she'll never know any different now thanks to you, will she?"

"Abi.."

"And you can be the one to tell her that when she asks in a couple of years, by the way," Abi added bitterly, as she continued to pile her stuff into the small holdall.

"But we can still have all of that stuff," he said gently. "Our little girl can still have a stable, loving home. She already has parents that love and look after each other, Abi, and that doesn't have to change.."

"It already has, Jay," she said, full on sobbing again now. She did the zipper up on the holdall - she didn't have everything but it would have to do for now. "Everything has changed. So I really hope she was worth it."

"She wasn't worth anything, babe, I promise," he grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips and placing a kiss against her knuckles. "She is the biggest mistake I've ever made, alright? It was just some stupid kiss..."

"Some stupid kiss?" she repeated his words. "So, from the time that your lips touched hers, you followed her upstairs, you took her clothes off, she started to take yours off….You didn't think, maybe, some stupid kiss wasn't worth everything you've lost now?!"

"Like I said, my head was all over the place.."

"So was mine, Jay!" She exclaimed, pulling her hand away from his grasp. "My head was a complete and utter mess but did I go off getting half naked with some other bloke? No!"

"I know I was stupid, but.."

"But what?" She asked, wiping at her tears. "But you're sorry? But it didn't mean anything? But you would never have let it go too far?! You've already said all of that, Jay, and none of it changes anything. None if it."

"Please…" he shook his head, once again putting both his hands on each side of her face - this time, he pressed his forehead against hers. "Please forgive me."

She didn't say anything. All she could do was shake her head as she cried.

"Abi, please, please forgive me…" he pleaded quietly, pressing his lips against hers. For a moment, she let him - she let him kiss her, and she let herself kiss him back. Because, in that moment, all she wanted was to forget this ever happened and just let him kiss her, hold her. She wanted to pretend like nothing had changed, but all it took was another second and suddenly all she could picture was Jay's lips on another girl. And it made her want to vomit more than any morning sickness ever could.

"I can't, Jay,I can't," Abi whispered as she pushed him away tearfully. She moved past him, reaching for the door. Jay grabbed her hand, stopping her.

"Please, Abs, you have to forgive me…" He cried.

"I can't, Jay. I wish I could but I…" she sucked in a breath, forcing a sad smile. "I can't. I just can't."

"Abi, please, I love you.."

"And I love you. I love you so, **_so_**, much. But it's over, Jay. We're over."

Just like that, she walked out, slamming the door behind her and leaving Jay completely alone.

* * *

><p>Sooo, I've been kind of dreading writing this chapter but I hope you all enjoyed the misery and heartbreak. Hahaha. I know it's short but there's a lot of dialogue so I didn't want to drag their argument out too much.<p>

I'm not sure when I'll update next, but I'll try not to leave it too long. Reviews motivate me though, just saying…;)


	16. Chapter 16

It had been two entire weeks since that fateful night. Though, for Abi, it felt like even longer.

All she wanted was for Jay to come over, tell her it was all one sick joke and he never so much as touched that Kitty girl. She'd be furious at first, cry a little, shout a little - then he'd take her in his arms, hold her tight and never let her go. Just like nothing ever happened.

But something _did_ happen, and it had shattered her entire world. Not only was she completely and utterly heartbroken, she was terrified too. She was absolutely devastated but more than anything, she was petrified about facing motherhood alone. She had never planned on being a mother, at least not so young anyway, but now she was well and truly being thrown in at the deep end. She'd only ever been with one man, Jay, and they'd been together (... on and off) for nearly two years before they'd even slept together. So, how the hell did she end up being a single mother before her baby was even born?

She was seventeen years old. As if being in sixth form whilst six and a half months pregnant wasn't stressful enough, now her boyfriend had gone and cheated on her. Well, _**almost** _cheated on her. As if the fact that they were interrupted before they got to the sex was what mattered.

If it had just been a kiss, a second or two of madness, then _maybe_ she could have been more forgiving. But he was upstairs with the girl, half-naked, when Dexter walked in. She dreaded to think what would have happened if he hadn't have barged in on the two of them. No, she knew what would have happened and the thought made her stomach turn. He wanted something to happen with Kitty - he wanted to have sex with her, he must have, because why else would he have left the pub and gone upstairs with her?

Jay had _wanted_ to sleep with another girl. That was enough for her.

She didn't think she could ever forgive him. No matter how much she still loved him and wanted him (which made her feel _very_ pathetic), she would never be able to trust him again. Abi, of all people, knew what a relationship without trust was like. She knew what it was like to grow up with parents who were constantly sneaking around, telling lies, intentionally trying to hurt each other...She wasn't going to do that, not to her little girl. She wasn't going to let her grow up in a house filled with jealousy and paranoia. Abi knew that she would constantly be looking over her shoulder, comparing herself to every other girl, always wondering when she'd next unexpectedly answer the phone to a girl that Jay had cheated on her with.

She couldn't live like that. She **wouldn't**.

But Jay was persistent. Abi knew that he wasn't as willing as she was to give up on them and the future they might have had together. Over the past fortnight, she must have had at least 15-30 calls and texts from him each day - every single one went ignored, of course. He'd been around to Max's too, stood on the doorstep begging her to let him in - which also went ignored. She'd been too worried to so much as leave the house in case she bumped into him.

She couldn't risk seeing him. She knew that if she did, she'd fall apart. She'd let him talk his way back into her heart.

When it came to Jay Brown, Abi was weak. She was completely and utterly weak - and they both knew it. So, she was simply avoiding him; a tactic she was planning on using for as long as she possibly could. As much as she missed Jay (and she missed everything about him), she had to at least try and stay strong. If not for her sake, then for her daughter's. That's what she told herself, anyway.

She was sat on the sofa, in her pyjamas with zero make-up on and her hair thrown up in a messy bun. She'd been to sixth form a few times since their break up, but it was even harder with the added stress. She'd been struggling enough before, and Jay's unfaltering faith in her had been the one thing that kept her going. Now, she knew that there was no way she'd be able to pass her exams whilst looking after a newborn baby on her own. So what was the point in even trying to revise for exams she was bound to fail? If she could even force herself off the sofa for long enough to show up, that was.

A banging on the door shook her from her train of thought. She ignored it at first, but when the person continued to knock, she stood up with a huff. She knew exactly who it was, and a quick glance through the curtains only confirmed it.

Maybe it was time to confront this head on. Maybe it was time to stop being such a coward. She could be strong, couldn't she? Of course she could. She had dignity, she had self control. She could do this.

She could to this.

That was what she told herself as she took a deep breath and opened the front door.

* * *

><p>In all honesty, he hadn't expected her to answer the door.<p>

Jay let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding in. He hadn't seen her since she'd walked out on him more than two weeks ago now - though it felt like so much longer than that.

His entire world had collapsed around him and he didn't even know what to do. Other than pester her constantly, which he'd grown quite good at actually, what else could he do? He'd well and truly screwed things up. Abi had been right - he'd thrown away their entire relationship and for what?

At least he didn't have to deal with Kitty anymore. He'd spoke to her once, when she'd called him that night, not too long after Abi had left. He'd told her exactly where to go and blocked her number. It wasn't as if she had any reason to bother him anymore, now that she'd done what she'd been threatening to do all along. She was just a silly, irrelevant little girl with nothing better to do than make complete strangers as miserable as she was.

Now, all that mattered was getting Abi back. He knew that he didn't deserve to have her back, but he couldn't just give up. If she wasn't time, then fine, but he needed to hear it from her - not Max, or Tanya, or Lauren, or whoever else would answer the door just to slam it in his face on Abi's behalf.

He'd planned out everything that he was going to say to her when she eventually gave him the chance, but now that she was standing in front of him, his mind had gone completely blank. She looked as beautiful as ever, and he wanted to punch himself for being so damn stupid for allowing himself to forget for so much as a second, that she was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

"...Hey," he said gently.

"Hey,"

"H-how are you?"

"Oh, I'm fantastic," she answered sarcastically.

He looked down at his feet awkwardly for a second. He hated himself, knowing how much his childish stupidity had hurt her. She was hurting because of him, and the very thought made him feel sick.

"Can I come in?" He asked, raising his eyes to meet hers.

"Yeah," she said after a few seconds, much to his relief.

He stepped into the familiar house, turning to face her as she shut the door behind him.

"Abi, I'm-"

"Don't," she interrupted. "If you just came here to grovel or whatever, then save your breath because I really don't want to hear it. We're finished and that's the end of that."

"You don't mean that."

"Yes, I do. I only let you in here because we need to talk about what we're going to do."

"Going to do about what?"

"About the baby, idiot," she rolled her eyes. "You know, **_our_ **baby? Our little girl, yeah? The one whose family you've ripped apart before she's even been born?"

"I'm sorry.." He sighed.

"I _**said** _don't apologize," she spat, before taking a deep breath. Before he could say anything else, she spoke again. "Look, you can still be there at the birth if you want to."

"What? Of course I want to," he replied. "Abi, I'm going to be there with you the entire time, holding your hand-"

"- No, my _Mum's_ going to be there holding my hand," she interrupted him again. "**_You're_ **not going to be anywhere near me. You can be in the room and that's as accommodating as I'm going to be."

"Abi, please," he pleaded. "I don't want this and neither do you. You know, deep down, that you want me to be there for you."

"We'll figure out something after she's born," she sighed, crossing her arms across her chest and look down at her feet as she ignored what he said. "Maybe you can look after her on weekends or something."

"_Weekends_? Abi, you can't be-"

"- I'm serious, Jay," she said, finishing his sentence for him. "I don't care if you think it's harsh or cold or whatever. You should have thought about it before you got on top of the first slut that paid you a bit of attention when I wasn't looking."

"I told you it wasn't like that," he said, determined to defend himself. "We'd been arguing, Abi, you said you'd get rid of our baby. I was angry and upset, and she was just **_there_**. It was one stupid, stupid, mistake and I'm sorry."

"Are you only saying this because of the baby?"

"What?"

"Are you only this determined to be with me because of the baby?" She asked. "I think it's a pretty simple question actually, Jay, doesn't take a genius."

"Of course not," Jay said, reaching for her hands. To his surprise, she let him. "Abi, I **love** you. You're the one and I've known that since I was sixteen."

"Then why? _Why_ would you do this to me?" She questioned, feeling the tears building behind her eyelids. Damn hormones giving her away.

"Because I was stupid and childish and **_stupid_**," he shook his head. "All I'm asking is that you give me a chance. One more chance to try and make it up to you. Prove to you that we can make this work because we belong together, Abs, and you know that as well as I do."

It was silent for a few moments as they intensely looked into each other's eyes. They both appreciated being so close after what felt like forever apart, both of them being able to feel the other's breath against their skin. After a couple of seconds, Jay glanced down to Abi's lips and leaned down, intending on finally being able to kiss her again.

Until she stepped back, that was.

"I can't, Jay, I just can't," she said quickly, protectively placing her hands on her bump.

"I don't expect you to forgive me overnight, Abs," he sighed. "I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I'm begging you...don't let my stupidity ruin everything that we could have."

"I think you should go now."

"I'm not going to give up on you," he shook his head, as he made his way to the door. "I'm not giving up on us."

"Well, you should."

"How can you say that?"

"You did this, Jay, not me," she cried, turning to look at him. "I can **_never_ **forgive you for this."

Jay simply nodded. His heart broke, but he knew that she was right. He was the one who did this, not her. As he turned and walked out of the door, leaving her stood alone just like she'd done to him two weeks ago, he could only hope that she was wrong about the forgiveness part. Because he couldn't see a way of living without her.

* * *

><p>No, your eyes are not deceiving you - this is the 2nd update in 2 days. I had a sudden burst of inspiration (aka Jabi muse) so here we go. Hope you guys liked it!<p>

P.S. it's my 18th birthday tomorrow (well, an hour and 5 minutes from now technically) and the nicest gift anyone could give me would be leaving a review. ;)


	17. Chapter 17

"Abi, wait!"

Abi sighed as she turned around to face the familiar voice. She was so close to the house now; all she had to do was climb the steps. She could probably make it inside before he caught up to her. But, she just turned round. It she was being honest with herself, she missed him - she missed him so much. Stalking him online and asking her entire family if they'd seen him just wasn't cutting it, it was simply making her feel like a 14 year old with a crush on a cute older boy all over again.

To be fair, it had been two weeks since she last saw him. He might have hurt her, but she was allowed to miss him.

And, boy, did she miss him. She hated sleeping alone at night - it just felt wrong without his arms wrapped around her, his hands protectively guarding her bump. It felt wrong to wake up in the morning on a pillow instead of his chest, and it felt wrong to not text him if she had a problem or to not call him just because she wanted was to hear his voice. She hated being without him and she hated the fact that he'd done this to her, to _them_.

"Hey.." She smiled.

"Hey.." he echoed, as he came to a stop. He'd obviously seen her from the Arches and ran over to catch her. "So, uh, how are things?"

"Fine," she shrugged, trying to seem casual as she blatantly lied through her teeth. She was stressed, first and foremost. She was tired, hungry, and she'd felt light-headed ever since she'd got up. She'd had dizziness throughout her entire pregnancy, the midwife said it was nothing to worry about, but today she just felt worse. If she hadn't have had somewhere important to be, chances were she wouldn't have even bothered getting out of bed. Again.

Things were far from fine, but she didn't need him to know that.

"Yeah?" he questioned. "That's good."

"Yep," she sighed, popping the 'p' to make a point. Her hands instinctively rested on her baby bump - a habit she'd picked up over the past few weeks, especially since their break up. "Is there something you wanted, Jay?"

"I just wanted to check you're okay, or is that not allowed now?"

"Well, I'm fine."

"And the baby?"

"She's fine too," she said defensively.

"Okay.." he nodded. "So, where have you been?"

"What's it to you?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's just, Lauren said you weren't going out much...She said you weren't even going to Sixth Form."

"She didn't have the right to tell you anything," Abi said, shaking her head. She knew her sister wanted what was best for her - and she thought that was Jay, despite what he'd done - but Lauren seriously needed to start minding her own business.

"Abi, you're never going to pass your exams if you don't even bother showing up for classes.."

"Well, that's not a problem now. So thanks for the concern but it's really not needed," she spat, turning around to walk away. Before she could, Jay grabbed her arm and spun her back round.

"Wait, what do you mean it's not a problem?"

"Let me go, Jay."

"Abi," Jay pressed.

"I dropped out, okay?" She sighed.

"You dropped out of sixth form?" He questioned, letting go of her arm.

"It's just temporary," she explained, softly. "I'll go back when I can. I don't know when that will be, but it doesn't matter."

"You're not serious?"

"Look, it's no big deal."

"But you're so close to doing your exams.."

"And how exactly am I going to be able to do those exams with a newborn baby to look after alone, Jay?"

"I can help-"

"Just leave it, Jay," she rolled her eyes.

"But you're worked so hard, Abs."

"I'm not letting you ruin my life," she laughed, almost bitterly. "I'll have the baby, and when the time is right, I'll go back to college."

With that, she once again turned to walk up the steps to the Branning house.

"Will you please just talk to me?" He asked, causing her to stop on the first step.

"What?"

"It's been a month, Abs. I get that you need time, but you won't even talk to me,"

"Yeah, and whose fault is that?"

"Mine. I know it's mine but," he paused, shaking his head. "I don't know how much longer I can do this for. I love you."

"You should have thought about that, shouldn't you?" She said, ignoring how much she just wanted to tell him how much she loved him too. But it was head over heart from now on, that's what she'd decided. She quickly made the way up the steps, resisting the urge to turn back and look at him.

"I'm sorry," Jay shouted after her, watching her unlock the door.

"I know," she said over her shoulder, before stepping inside and slamming the door.

* * *

><p>"So, now I don't know what to do," Lola sighed. "And it's not as if I can talk to Abs about it with everything going on with you two, and I mean Lauren is her sister so that would be awkward. How do you tell your best friend that her little tart of a sister is trying to get her claws back into your man?"<p>

Jay felt like his head was going to explode. All he could think about was Abi, yet he had to deal with Lola's ramblings. All she'd gone on about all day was how convinced she was that Lauren was stealing Peter from her. The girl was like a sister to him, but bloody hell, she was doing his head right in with all her relationship non-drama.

"Jay, are you listening to me?"

"Yeah, Peter and Lauren, I get the point," he rolled his eyes.

"You know, you're lucky I'm even still talking to you after what you've done," Lola folded her arms across her chest, raising a judgemental eyebrow at her friend. "So don't play the heartbroken good guy to me, Jay, because you deserve to have Abi ignoring you. I'd have done a lot flamin' worse to you than give you the silent treatment, believe me."

"Should I pass that warning along to Peter?" Jay asked, mockingly.

"Shut up, you prat," she rolled her eyes. "You can't say you haven't noticed what he's like around Lauren. And it's not as if they haven't been there before."

"Yeah, forever ago," he shrugged. "They're childhood sweethearts, that's all."

"So are you and Abi," Lola pointed out.

"Yeah, well," Jay sighed, "We're not really the best example right now, are we?"

"Look, you two will get through this," Lola said. "Abi's mad, and she's hurt, but she loves you. She loves you so much, Jay. She just needs time."

"You know she's dropped out of sixth form?"

"Yeah, she told me."

"Has she said anything else to you?"

"About you?"

"About anything. She just seemed a little off earlier."

"Don't you remember me when I was having Lexi? Seriously, Jay, pregnancy does things to a girl. It was probably nothing."

"Maybe you're right," he sighed. "I just...I've seen her twice in the past month, Lo. I miss her."

He missed her so much, it was unreal. He could barely stand to be in the B&B without her now; that was why he'd been spending so much time at Billy and Lola's. That bed had become their bed, that room was their room. It didn't feel right to be there without her. Being without her would never feel right.

"I know," Lola smiled, sadly.

"She won't even give me the time of day, Lo. But, she's right, I deserve it. After what I did, I deserve to have her hate me."

"Abi doesn't hate you."

"Doesn't she?"

"Of course she doesn't, you muppet," Lola rolled her eyes. "She's hurting."

"Because of me."

"Yeah, because of you and your stupidity. I'd never forgive you, but she will. You two are, like, soulmates," Lola smirked. "Seriously, it's disgusting how perfect you are for each other."

The two of them laughed. Jay could only hope that she was right - and that Abi agreed.

"She'll come round, Jay," Lola said comfortingly. "She's my best friend, okay? I know that girl inside out and so do you. We both know that she's going to forgive you. She's just making you work for it."

He'd decided to give Abi space for now, but keeping his distance was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do. Especially when he couldn't help but worry about her.

* * *

><p>"Abs, are you even listening to me?" Lauren shouted. "Where are you going?!"<p>

"I'm going for a lie down," Abi whined as she headed towards the stairs, hearing Lauren making some sarcastic remark to her mother in the kitchen. She climbed a few steps before she stopped, feeling herself getting dizzy. She grabbed the banister for support as everything went quiet and spots appeared in front of her eyes. As she felt herself get more and more light-headed, she lost her footing as she lost consciousness. She barely even felt anything as she tumbled down the stairs and hit the floor with a loud thud.

* * *

><p>...Oops.<p>

If you liked this, or even if you didn't, please leave me a review! Fun fact: I posted his story a year ago today! I know I'm not very good at updating (though this is the 3rd update this week, just sayin') but I'm very grateful to all of you that read this. So to everyone who follows/favourites/reviews - thank you! I really hope you're enjoying the story. Jay and Abi may not be (**_back_**) together (**_yet_**) on the show, but at least we'll always have FanFiction. ;)


	18. Chapter 18

Jay was sat on the floor, playing with Lexi. He loved playing with her - not that she'd given him much choice in the matter when she shoved the princess doll in his hands. He hoped that he'd be able to have this with his own daughter soon - no, he knew that he would. Abi would never stop him from seeing his own child, he knew that. Even if they weren't together, Abi wouldn't do that to him or their daughter. Lexi was probably better off not knowing her father, but the same would never be said for Jay's little girl.

They were interrupted when his phone started ringing from his back pocket, and he couldn't help but laugh at the toddler's unamused expression as he put the doll on the floor.

"Hey," he greeted as he answered, seeing that it was Lauren.

"Jay, you need to get over here right now," Lauren's voice came through the phone, laced with panic and distress. Which, obviously, immediately filled Jay with panic and distress.

"What? Why? What's happened?" He asked with a frown, standing up from the floor.

"It's Abi, she fell.." Lauren explained.

"_What_? What do you mean she fell?" Jay questioned, heading to the kitchen to grab his jacket and ignoring Billy and Lola's concerned looks.

"She fell down the stairs, Jay."

"W-what?" Jay swore he felt his heart stop. "Is she okay?"

"I don't know; she's unconscious. I mean, she's _**alive** _but...," Lauren said shakily, and he heard her take a deep breath. In the background, he could hear the faint sound of sirens. "Look, the ambulance just got here so you need to get here right now. _Right now_, Jay."

"Alright,I'm on my way," he said, hanging up.

"Jay?!" Lola called after him as he turned to leave. "Jay, wait, what's happened?"

"Abi, she's had a fall," He shouted over his shoulder as he left the flat. He heard her say she was coming with him before muttering something to Billy about watching Lexi. He didn't bother waiting for her though - his **girls **needed him.

He ran as fast as he could through Walford, simply shoving past anyone that got in his way. As he sprinted through the market towards the Square, he saw the ambulance pulled up outside the Branning house. His heart was in his throat. This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't.

* * *

><p>Her entire body hurt. It just <strong><em>hurt<em>**. She could just make out her Mum and Lauren in the background, and the sound of sirens in the distance. As she came round, managing to just about flutter her eyes open, the noise surrounding her started to become a lot clearer.

"Mum?" she muttered. Her throat was dry as anything and she felt so light-headed that when she tried to push herself up, she physically just couldn't do it.

"Shh, darling, it's alright," Tanya cooed, brushing her daughter's blonde hair back. "You're going to be alright."

"T-the baby," Abi breathed, suddenly feeling the pain in her stomach.

"It's okay, darling, the paramedics are here now, you and the baby are going to be fine."

"Jay," she cried, starting to get more and more distressed. "I want Jay, Mum, I just want **_Jay_**."

"It's okay, darling, just calm down" Tanya soothed gently as the paramedics appeared by her side. "Lauren's already called him, he'll be here any minute now."

The paramedics started talking to her, but Abi could barely string a sentence together, she felt so weak. It didn't help that she was actually in a lot of pain, and was also getting herself worked up into a state.

"Abi!"

Jay barged through the door, going straight to kneel down by Abi's side.

"Jay.." she cried quietly.

"It's okay, baby, I'm here," he assured her, giving her a comforting smile before turning to the paramedic. "What's going on? Is she okay?"

"I'm going to have to ask you both to step away, we need to get her into the ambulance," the paramedic replied, motioning to both Jay and Tanya to give her some space so that the other paramedic could get to her.

Within a few minutes, she was being put in the ambulance.

"I'm going with her," Jay declared, not willing to argue about it.

"Of course," Tanya agreed instantly. "We'll follow in the car. Lola, darling, are you coming?"

"Oh, um," Lola hesitated for a moment, not too fussed at the idea of being in the car with Lauren. Judging by the look on the other Branning girl's face, she didn't either. But a glance towards Abi quickly set her priorities straight. "Yeah please, Tan, if you don't mind. Jay, we'll see you there, alright?"

Jay wasn't really listening, so he just nodded in response as he climbed in the ambulance. The doors shut behind them, but all Jay could focus on was Abi. She looked so fragile, so frightened. It killed him.

"Jay," she whimpered, tears staining her flushed out cheeks.

"Yeah?" He replied groggily, rubbing his thumb against the back of her hand.

"I'm sorry," she cried.

"What are you talking about, you muppet?" He questioned with a gentle laugh. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

"If anything…" she paused, taking a deep breath and squeezing her eyes shut. "If _anything_ happens... to our baby girl.."

"Hey, don't be silly, nothing's -"

"It'll be _**my** _fault," she interrupted him, shaking her head. Her breathing become uneven and uncontrollable as she cried . "I should have been more careful, I-"

"Okay breathe, baby, just breathe," Jay soothed, running his free hand through her hair. "This _isn't_ your fault, okay? You're going to be fine, the baby's going to be fine, _**everything's** _going to be fine.."

"I'm scared, Jay," she cried, helplessly.

"It's going to be okay, Abs," he soothed, even though his own heart was breaking. She needed him to be strong for her. He could worry about himself later."It's going to be okay, I promise."

The paramedic was fussing around her, which made Jay move out of the way slightly. As much as he wanted to stay close to her, he knew that he had to let the man do his job - for Abi's sake and their baby's. The paramedic eventually moved away from her, causing Jay to lean forward again and immediately reach for her hand. Just a few minutes later, they were nearing the hospital.

"Please don't leave me," she begged, gripping onto his hand as if her life depended on it.

"I'm not going anywhere," he smiled, squeezing her hand. "Not now, not ever."

* * *

><p>An hour later, they were sitting in the hospital room. Abi was laid on the bed, with Jay sat next to her holding her hand. The Doctor had done some tests on her to make sure there was nothing wrong to worry about, but they said that it was more than likely to be cuts and bruises. They just needed to check since it was the dizziness that caused her to faint and fall, more than the actual fall itself. The Doctor had explained that even though dizziness and feeling light-headed was a common pregnancy symptom, it was the fainting they were concerned about. They were still pretty confident that even that was just brought on by stress and the fact that the stress was causing her to not eat regularly enough.<p>

But, whilst Abi was probably fine, they now needed to check on the baby. Which was why the Doctor was currently applying the cold gel to Abi's stomach.

"Okay, there's the heartbeat," the female doctor said with a smile. "Seems fine to me."

Both Jay and Abi let out a sigh of relief, Jay bringing her hand to his lips.

"So, she's okay?" Abi asked, just for a bit of reassurance.

"She's one hundred percent okay, just take a look," the woman replied, turning the screen slightly so that they could both see their baby - just as healthy as the last time they'd seen her. "Abi, we're going to have to keep you in over night as a pre-caution. Just to be on the safe side of things, nothing to worry about. Other than that, I think you should count yourself lucky. I'll come back to check on you later, but for now, I'll give you two some space. I highly suggest you get some rest."

They both thanked her before turning to face each other.

"Don't you ever do that to me again, d'you hear me?" Jay laughed, shaking his head.

"Sorry," she replied quietly with a soft smile, as she pushed herself up slightly on the bed - causing Jay to jump into action and move to help her. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at the gesture. "Jay, I'm fine. Just a bit uncomfortable."

"You sure?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes," she smiled. "I'm not having you fussing over me as if I'm a child, okay?"

"I think I'm allowed to fuss over my heavily pregnant girlfriend who just fell down the stairs," Jay argued lightly, laughing until he realized what he'd called her. "Sorry."

"It's okay," she shrugged. In all honesty, she'd missed being called his girlfriend. Maybe it was the painkillers they had her on, or the baby hormones, or just the fact that she really, really missed him - but she decided now was the time to lay her heart on the line. "...I miss you."

"What?" Jay asked - that had been the last thing he'd expected her to say.

"I _really_ miss you," she confessed. "When I woke up after the fall, you were the **only** person I wanted there with me. When I was in that ambulance….I mean, I would have had a complete **_meltdown_ **if you hadn't been there with me, Jay. But I didn't, because you were right there, by my side. I want you to always be by my side."

"Are you…" Jay moved to sit on the edge of her bed, so that he was closer to her. "Are you saying what I _think_ you're saying?"

"What do you **_think_ **I'm saying?" She asked teasingly.

"I think you're saying that you're going to forgive me…" He spoke softly, trying not to get ahead of himself.

"Then no, I'm not," she shrugged. "I'm saying that I've already forgiven you."

Neither of them said another word before he'd leaned over and pressed his lips against hers. It was gentle and slow, but also passionate and needy at the same time. It might have been something to do with the fact they hadn't kissed in over a month.

"I love you _so_ much," he whispered against her lips, a few seconds later.

"I love you too," she replied, before pulling him back to her and kissing him again.

They continue to kiss for a few seconds, before Jay eventually pulled himself away with a laugh.

"Alright, babe, I know you missed me but…" he smirked teasingly.

"Just wait until I get you in a proper bed," she whispered flirtatiously, biting her lower lip.

"Abigail Branning!" he laughed, pretending to be shocked as she laughed too.

"What? It's the pregnancy hormones," she joked, before looking down at her lap.

"You sure you're okay?" Jay asked.

"Just…" Abi breathed, pausing. "I _really_ want us to work, Jay. I want us to be a family."

"That's _**all** _I want, Abs," he replied, squeezing her hand. "Does this mean you'll move back in with me?"

"Actually, I was thinking it could be the other way around?"

"What, me move into your Dad's?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "It'll be easier, you know? We'll have some extra help _and_ we'll save on the rent."

"And your Dad's okay with me moving in?" Jay asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well yeah, you've already knocked me up," she smirked. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Good point," he laughed. "Okay, yeah."

"One condition, though."

"Anything."

"No more secrets."

"No more secrets," Jay repeated with a smile. "Just you and me."

Abi smiled in response, until she felt a kick against her tummy. She quickly grabbed Jay's hand and placed it where the baby was kicking.

"Ooh, I think Daddy's forgetting someone there," she laughed.

"Yeah you too, baby girl," He chuckled. He'd felt the baby kicking her once or twice, but he didn't think ever get over how it felt. If it felt that surreal against his hand, he had no idea how amazing it must have felt for Abi. He glanced back up at Abi as she looked back up too, their eyes meeting. "Just you, me, and our little girl."

"Sounds perfect," Abi smiled, pressing a soft kiss against his lips.

She moved over slightly and motioned for Jay to put his legs up on the bed. Jay gently wrapped his arm around her shoulders, so that she could cuddle into his side. Finally, things were back to the way they were supposed to be.


	19. Chapter 19

Everyone was doing her head in. Between both her parents, Lauren, Lola and Jay? She'd only been home five minutes and she was already starting to go out of her mind. Her Mum and Dad hadn't left her alone, Lola hadn't stopped texting her all day. Lauren had finally left her to it (so she could go meet Peter and they could both pretend they didn't know Abi knew) and Jay had only stopped bothering her because he'd gone to get the rest of his stuff from the B&B.

Abi understood that they were all just trying to help, but they weren't. Yes, her getting dizzy and fainting was caused by stress but that didn't mean she needed everyone to rush around her as if she was a child. She could look after herself. Besides, her and Jay were back together now and she didn't have Sixth Form work to worry about. All she had to do was look after herself and the little human growing in her tummy. What was there to get stressed about now? Nothing. That's what. She was **_genuinely_ **happy.

"Are you sure you don't want anything?" Tanya asked. "I can get you some hot cocoa?"

"No, thank you," Abi forced herself to smile in response. She knew her Mum was just being protective, but seriously - she was fine.

"Please stop fussing," Abi rolled her eyes, as she sat herself down on the sofa. "I told you, I'm completely fine. No, the doctor told you that I'm completely fine."

"I know, darling, but you're my little girl," Tanya sighed, sitting down next to her daughter on the sofa.

"Even when your little girl is having her _own_ little girl?" Abi questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Tanya answered, adamantly. "And I'm always going to worry about you - it's my default setting to worry about you, so just get used to it."

"Noted," Abi laughed, nodding in agreement. "Just please stop fussing. Please?"

"Your mother, stop fussing?" Max's voice filled the air as he came into the living room. "Doubt I'll ever live to see the day."

"Oi, you," Tanya warned, teasingly. "Fine,"I'll stop fussing. Just call me if you need anything, okay?"

"Will do," Abi agreed with a smile, watching as her Mum stood up off the sofa.

She heard Tanya greet someone as she opened the door, and Abi's smile immediately grew when she heard Jay's voice. Her heart actually fluttered - how was it that he could still do that to her, even after three years? She only hoped it would stay that way forever.

"Hey babe," Jay greeted, as he entered the living room. He had a black bag swung over his shoulder, and the biggest grin painted across his features. "How you feeling?"

"Better now that you're here," she replied, biting her lip. She heard Max pretend to gag before muttering some comment below his breath and walking out. Abi and Jay both laughed, as he put his bag down on the floor and moved to sit by her.

"Well, can't blame you," he smirked teasingly, leaning over to kiss her.

They'd barely been able to keep their hands off each other since they'd officially made up yesterday. Even though she was still in quite a bit of pain - she was covered in bruises, unsurprisingly - she couldn't help herself. And he couldn't help himself either. It had been a long month, to say the least.

"So, do I get my moving in present now or later?" Jay asked with a smirk, as he pulled back so that he could still feel his girlfriend's warm breath against his lips.

"Later, if you're lucky," she whispered teasingly before pressing her lips back to his..

Max's voice interrupted, causing Abi to shove Jay back slightly.

"Abs, you'll be okay if I pop out, yeah?" He asked, as he re-appeared in the living room.

"Yeah, of course," Abi smiled.

"I might be a few hours, you'll be alright with Jay here, won't you?" Max questioned.

"Yeah, of course, I'll be fine," Abi replied. "Where are you going?"

"Just got some business to attend to," Max shrugged as he glanced down at his phone.

"Oh, okay," Abi mumbled. She didn't really care where he went as long as it meant he was out of the house, which would give her and Jay some much needed time alone to properly talk.

"Alright, great, I'll see you later," Max said, and with that, he was gone.

"What was that about?" Jay asked with a frown, after he'd heard the door slam.

"I never know with him," Abi rolled her eyes. She sucked in a breath, going to push herself up off the sofa but instead grabbing her side in agony.

"Wow, hey, you okay?" Jay asked, immediately springing into action and reaching for her arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Abi nodded, flinching as she moved over on the sofa slightly. "Just hurts, that's all."

"Here, lay back," Jay replied, gently helping her lift her legs up onto his lap.

"I feel more like seventy than seventeen," Abi laughed, shaking her head as she got comfortable again.

"Aww, my poor baby," Jay teased, softly rubbing her leg.

"Shut up," she laughed. For a minute, there was just a comfortable, happy silence until Abi spoke again. "Listen, Jay, I think we should talk. About….About Kitty."

"..._Oh_," Jay muttered. He was expecting this at some point, but not in that particular moment.

"Yeah. **_Oh_**," She echoed with the tiniest hint of a smile. "It's not exactly a conversation I want to have either, Jay, but I want to be able to trust you again.."

"You **can** trust me, Abs, I swear to you. She was just a blip," Jay explained. "I was so angry and upset and, well, I've never been good at emotions, have I?"

Abi just smiled.

"You always just got it," Jay shrugged. "That's how I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Because I don't have to say anything or do anything - you just **_get_ **me, and I _**get** _you. That's how it's always been and I know that's how it will always be."

"Tell me what happened," Abi said after a moment. She might have just got him, as he liked to put it, but she wanted to hear it from him. She needed to hear it from him. All she had was Kitty's side of the story, and she needed his. She gave him an expectant look, urging him to talk to her. "That day on holiday, with _her_. Tell me exactly what happened."

"Abi..." Jay sighed.

"Tell me, Jay," she repeated.

"It was after you'd taken the test," Jay recalled, giving into her demanding look after a few seconds. "You shoved the stick in my hands and just stormed off. I knew that I should have turned round, there and then, to follow you. But, well, by the time I'd got over the shock, you'd already wandered off and... well, I couldn't face another argument. We'd never fallen out like that over anything, Abs, I didn't know how to handle it. The idea that we wanted different things, wanted different lives, to _that_ extreme...Well, I couldn't deal with it. Simple."

"So.." Abi let out a breath. "So, instead of coming after me, you went running straight to her?"

"I went for a walk, to clear my head," Jay corrected her. "I didn't know where I was going, but I ended up at the pub. I was just going to have one drink, but..well, Kitty was there.."

Abi looked down at her lap, bringing her arms up to her chest. She might have wanted to hear all of this, but that didn't make it any easier to listen to.

"I don't know what got into me, I really don't," Jay said. "As far as I was concerned, you were going to get rid of our baby. I was going to have to find a way to support you having an abortion, Abs. Yeah, I would have stood by you if that was what you wanted but...The fact that you _wanted_ that, I couldn't get my head around it. I know that you were just panicking, but I couldn't think straight enough to see that at the time. As much as I told myself you didn't mean it, you wouldn't go through with it, I couldn't help but wonder _'what if'_? What if she does go through with it and I don't know her as well as I think I do?"

"Right, so we're back to it being my fault then?" Abi asked, looking back up at him with tears in her eyes.

"Of course not," Jay quickly replied, shifting slightly to reach for her hands. "It's **completely** my fault."

"So, what happened then?" Abi asked. "How did you get talking to her?"

"I can't remember," Jay admitted. "She was just being a flirt and I was upset...so I flirted back."

"So she came onto you?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Did she initiate it? The kiss I mean, did she kiss you first?"

"Abi…"

"Or did you kiss her?"

"I kissed her," he sighed, regretfully.

Abi clenched her eyes shut, silently cursing her damn hormones. She nodded in response, wiping a stray tear from beneath her eye.

"Okay," she sucked in a breath. "What happened then?"

"Abi, come on, we don't need to do this."

"Yes, we do."

"Fine.." he sighed, giving in. "We'd been talking for 5, maybe 10 minutes - she was all over me, so I kissed her. At first, it was just a peck. Then she kissed me and...well, after that, she said we should take it somewhere a bit more private."

"As in her bed?" Abi laughed ridiculously, shaking her head.

"We ended up upstairs, on the sofa." Jay continued, shamefully. "Must have been about five minutes later that Dexter walked in. He'd come looking for her and one of the girls behind the bar let him up. Probably to wind Kitty up, I don't know."

"And then you left?"

"Then I left. I haven't seen her since."

"How did she have your number then?"

"Dexter gave it to her," Jay answered. "I know that sounds sketchy, but it's true. He didn't have great service in the caravan, so he gave her my number in case she couldn't reach him. This was before all this happened, obviously."

Abi nodded, wiping at her teary eyes with her sleeve. She'd heard all she needed to hear now.

"Okay," Abi sighed.

"So, I'm forgiven then?"

"Forgiven you for worse, haven't I?," she smiled softly. "Because I love you, Jay. So, whatever you've done, I can get over. But I swear, you do anything like this _ever_ again?"

"I won't,"

"- And I _**won't**_ be forgiving you again, do you understand me? I need you and our little girl needs you, but she won't be growing up in a home filled with secrets and lies."

"I would never do anything to hurt either of you, not again."

"I know," she said. "I know you're going to be an amazing Dad."

"Yeah, and you're going to be an amazing Mum."

"Am I?" She asked, not even realizing she'd said it before she heard herself saying it.

"What?" He questioned. "Babe, of course you are. Look how you are with Oscar, Lexi, Amy..You're going to be a great Mum."

"Yeah, but it's different when you can give them back," she laughed, shaking her head. "I don't know. Ignore me, I'm just being silly."

She pushed herself up off the sofa, fighting through the pain.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm just going to have a lie down," she smiled. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Just tired."

"Okay…" he sighed. "I'll follow you up now. Don't argue with that, I'm not leaving you on your own."

Abi just rolled her eyes, giving him an agreeing smile. He watched her go, wondering where all that stuff had come from. He could understand her wanting to know the entire truth about Kitty from his side, but her not being a good Mum? Why would she think that? Remembering what he'd just said to her, he had a bit of a lightbulb moment and pulled out his phone.

**MESSAGE SENT; LOLA.**

_You and Pete fancy a night out? x_

* * *

><p>"So, you're going to stay here tonight so that your Mummy can go out. Sound fun, munchkin?"<p>

Abi actually thought she was still asleep. She must have been dreaming, because - why would Jay be talking in a baby voice? Who was he talking to?

In her confused state, she forced herself up off the bed. With how much pain she was in, it took her a good five minutes to get out of her bedroom to the top of the stairs. It was then she realized that he was talking to Lexi, when she could hear the toddler babbling back in her own little way. Why was Lexi here? Abi couldn't hear Lola..

"Hey, here's your Auntie Abi coming now look..."

Jay must have heard her struggling to get down the stairs, because she'd only got halfway before he was appearing at the bottom of the stairs with Lexi on his hip. It always made her smile, the way he was with a child that wasn't even his. The fact that he was so close to Lola helped, obviously, then there was him being there when she was born and him being her Godfather. It actually made Abi a little jealous, not that she'd ever told anyone that. She knew it was just her being silly, because he was the same with anyone's child – Oscar, Amy, Denny, William and Janet... He was just an absolute natural with kids, which was just another thing that Abi loved about him. It was something she adored about him, actually, and knowing he was going to be even better with their daughter often put her mind at rest about the entire 'teenage mum' thing. She was excited, of course she couldn't wait to meet their little girl, but she was still scared. Which, she recalled, she'd confessed to him earlier. Suddenly, Lexi being here made a bit more sense.

"You okay, babe?" Jay asked, reaching out his free arm to help her.

"Yeah, it's fine," Abi responded with a smile, taking his hand in hers as she reached the bottom of the staircase. It felt like she'd just reached the top of Everest, mind you, but she wasn't about to tell Jay that. She sucked in a breath, before putting on her best baby voice and turning to Lexi. "And what are you doing here, Madam?"

"She's come to help look after her Auntie Abi," Jay answered, and Lexi nodded adamantly.

"Oh, is that right?" Abi laughed, noting that the TV in the living room was already on the children's channel. "Well, does Nurse Lexi want to go watch some tele? We'll go get you some juice, maybe some biscuits if you're lucky."

Lexi immediately cheered in agreement, causing Jay to lower her down onto the floor. Within seconds, she'd ran into the living room and sat herself down in front of the TV. Abi made her way towards the kitchen, gesturing for Jay to follow her. Once they were in the kitchen, she shut the door slightly, leaving it on the hinge so that they could still hear Lexi.

"What's going on, Jay?" Abi asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"What do you mean?" Jay questioned, shaking his head as he went to get some juice out of the fridge. "Lola and Peter fancied a night out, so I volunteered to babysit. You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course I don't mind," Abi scoffed. "I do mind you not telling me the truth though. I know for a fact Lola didn't have any plans tonight, and she would have checked with me about Lexi first unless someone told her not to.."

"Fine, okay, you caught me," Jay sighed after a few seconds, rolling his eyes. "I might have suggested that Lola and Peter deserved some time alone...Then volunteered to babysit."

"Okay, so there's half the truth.."

"Look, I thought it would do you good," Jay shrugged innocently. "You adore Lexi, she adores you. What better way to show you that you're going to be a great Mum?"

Abi let out a sigh. She knew that he would have had something to do with this.

"Better get Nurse Lexi those biscuits then...before she gets impatient, hm?" Abi responded, biting back a smile.

Two hours later, Jay and Abi were sitting on the sofa with Lexi laid across them. The toddler was asleep on Jay's lap, with her legs thrown over Abi's.

"Hey, she's asleep," Abi whispered to Jay, who was a little too caught up in watching Frozen.

"Oh, yeah," Jay replied, quietly. "I don't know how long Lola and Peter are going to be, so I'll go put her down on your bed?"

"Yeah," Abi nodded, her lips curling up into a smirk. "Or you could go put her down on our bed."

Jay laughed under his breath as he took Lexi and stood up. Abi smiled to herself as she watched her boyfriend carry the little girl out of the living room. As much as he hated to admit it – Jay had definitely proved his point. Having a baby was, without a doubt, going to be the hardest thing she'd ever done. But it would be worth it. All the night feeds, the nappy changes, the money that they didn't have to...It would all be worth it, because with all of that, came snuggling up on the sofa watching Disney films and watching Jay carrying their little girl upstairs to bed. She wanted that. She wanted it more than anything, and in that moment as she waited for Jay to come back downstairs, she couldn't imagine anything that she wanted more.

"So..." Jay sighed as he came back in and sat down next to her. Immediately, he wrapped his arms around Abi and she cuddled into his side. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"No.." Abi replied. "No, it wasn't."

Neither of them had to say another word to know that they were back on the same page.

"You know," Abi sighed. "We're going to have to start thinking about baby names."

"I still think Leo could work as a girl name..."

"We are not ever naming our daughter after a footballer,"

"Fine, fine," Jay scoffed, teasingly. "We'll just have to have a boy as well then."

"Uh, yeah, one thing at a time," Abi rolled her eyes as they both laughed.

* * *

><p>This is my longest chapter to date and I'm not really sure why or how, but I got a little carried away. Hope you guys liked it! If you did (or if you didn't) please leave a review. They're my motivation. ;)<p> 


	20. Chapter 20

A month after getting back together, Jay and Abi were both on top of the world. Things between them had been amazing – _perfect_ even. They hadn't heard a word from Kitty - Abi strongly believed the little slapper had been expecting Jay to run to her after she'd destroyed his relationship with Abi. Since that hadn't happened (as if there was ever a chance), she'd gone and sucked her fangs into some other bloke. It didn't matter anyway; if anything, Abi felt sorry for the girl. How lonely did you have to be to find pleasure in ruining someone else's relationship?

It hadn't been easy, forgiving Jay. At first, there had been the tiniest part of her that doubted him - and herself, for that matter. But she'd known it was the right thing to do, and he'd definitely proved her right over the past month. It finally felt like they were **_them_ **again. For ages before she'd found out the truth about Kitty, she'd been going out of her mind knowing that he was keeping something from her. It wasn't like that anymore. There were no more secrets, just like he'd promised her that night in the hospital. He'd kept his promise and now? Now, they couldn't have been happier.

Living with Max was surprisingly easy too. They didn't have to worry about rent, and actually, Max was rarely even there. He was always on business, or just 'popping out' and not coming back for hours afterwards. Jay'd hinted to Abi a few times that he might have had another woman on the go, but Abi didn't want to hear it. She had her own life to worry about it, she didn't need to know what it was her Dad got up to in his spare time. She didn't need to know and she didn't _want_ to know. If there was something going on, Max would tell her when he was ready. She didn't like it when he tried to meddle in her relationship, so she wasn't going to do the same to him. Abi was a lot of things, but she wasn't a hypocrite.

Then there was the small matter of there being just 2 weeks until Abi's due date. There was no denying that Jay and Abi were excited; actually, everyone seemed to be excited. Her Mum was constantly buying things for the baby, even though she swore she wasn't _purposely_ looking, and Lauren was - much to Abi's surprise - just the same. Between Dot and Cora, their little girl had an entire wardrobe knitted out for her and she hadn't even been born yet. Then there was Lola, who was might as well have been planning their baby's sleepovers with Lexi already.

Jay and Abi themselves had obviously bought loads of stuff for her, too. They'd bought her plenty of clothes, obviously; they were 100% prepared on that front. Her Mum still had Oscar's old moses basket, which was a light cream colour, so they already had that. They had the cot - which had been in Oscar's old room waiting to be put together for the past two weeks. Abi was actually considering putting it together herself if Jay didn't hurry up and do it already. They'd bought the perfect pram which Abi had found online too, and they had all the other essentials ready - from the nappies, to the feeding equipment, to the bathing stuff to the changing bag.

Everything was ready. After her little trip down the stairs and straight to A&E, Abi wasn't prepared to leave things until the last minute just in case anything happened and their princess decided to put in an early appearance. What could she say? There was nothing wrong with being organized, and Jay agreed with her.

But, there was one thing that was certainly safe say - this baby would be spoilt rotten.

They were curled up in bed when Jay's phone rang. Abi groaned as she forced herself to open her eyes - it was barely 9am. On a **_Saturday_**. Who the hell was calling him at this time of morning?! She felt his arm move from around her waist, and she could hear him rustling behind her. He wasn't very subtle, her boyfriend.

"Jay," she whined, dragging out the word.

"Mm, sorry, baby," he sighed, as the ringing was cut off.

Abi frowned, using all the energy she could muster to sit up slightly so she could give him a questioning glare.

"What?" He asked, shrugging as he rubbed at his eyes. "It was unknown. Probably just a wrong number, or some insurance company from Japan."

She didn't say anything, just looked at him suspiciously. She felt that feeling of doubt creep over her as her stomach flipped – yes, things were great between them now, but Abi was still Abi. She'd always been insecure and overly jealous. His little secret combined with the fact that she currently felt like a disgusting, overinflated balloon didn't help her unnecessary paranoia.

"Was that Kitty?" She asked after a moment, hating herself as she heard the words come from her mouth.

"You know it wasn't," Jay sighed, putting the phone on the bedside table before turning back to face her. "I thought we were okay now?"

"We are," she said, softly. "Sorry."

"Don't be," he smiled, leaning over to give her a kiss – which she happily let him. She smiled against his lips, her hand moving to tangle in his hair as his hands slipped down to her waist. It wasn't long before they were getting a little carried away..

An hour later, they were still in bed - only, the pyjamas they'd been wearing before were now on the floor. Jay was laying there in nothing but his boxers, whilst Abi had thrown on his old t-shirt. The t-shirt she used to love wearing, that hung perfectly on her figure. Being eight months pregnant...well, it was a bit more snug on her these days than she cared for. Jay said it still looked better on her than him though.

"So.." Jay sighed, his hands running through her messy hair. "As much as I'd love to stay here with you all day, I have something I need to show you."

"What? Abi asked with a frown. He didn't answer her, instead nudging her over slightly so he could get out of bed - which inspired a whine of disapproval from his girlfriend. "Jay, what are you doing?"

She watched him as he walked over to the drawers - more specifically, the one filled with his socks. She went to question him again, before he pulled out a piece of paper and got back in bed. Trying not to smile, he handed it to Abi.

"What's this?" She asked as she opened it. Her eyes scanned the content, her eyebrows furrowing.

Jay couldn't help but laugh. She was just too adorable when she was confused.

"Jay…" she breathed, before slowly shaking her head. "Why are you showing me an advert for a flat on_?"

"Because it's not a flat.." He corrected, reaching for her hands. "...It's our flat."

Abi was speechless. She genuinely didn't know what to say - and that didn't happen much.

"Are you…" Abi muttered, her lips curling up into a smile. "Are you serious?"

"Yep," Jay laughed. "It's all ours, babe. A tiny living room, a tinier kitchen, an even tinier bathroom and two tiny bedrooms...all ours."

"But…." Abi stuttered. "How? We can't afford this."

"Well, your Mum and Dad covered the deposit. Said to call it an early housewarming, baby shower, birthday, christmas, wedding and anniversary present for the next 20 years," Jay laughed.

"What about the rent?" Abi questioned. "How are we going to manage that every month?"

"I've worked it all out, babe, don't worry," Jay replied, reassuringly. When Abi looked the furthest thing from convinced, Jay moved his hand to gently cup the side of her face. "You trust me, don't you?"

"Yeah, of course I do," Abi sighed.

"Then trust that I can look after you," Jay replied, before glancing down at her bump. "_Both_ of you."

"You've really got us a flat?" She asked, dragging out her sentence. "For real?"

"For real," Jay whispered. "It's all ready. Well, I mean, we've got a bed and a sofa. Oh, and a microwave so we're basically all set."

"Oh my God," Abi laughed, before passionately pressing her lips against Jay's. "You are amazing."

"I know," he teased, shrugging as the two of them laughed in delight.

* * *

><p>"I still can't believe this is actually happening," Abi breathed.<p>

"Well you better start believing it, babe," Jay replied with a smirk, as he sat down next to her on the sofa.

It had been exactly a week since Jay had confessed all about the flat. He'd taken over there straight away. Much to her surprise, the living room had already been painted all cream with a light brown sofa and a coffee table. Their bedroom was a darker shade of cream, with a double bed, drawers and a wardrobe. The kitchen and bathroom were white, but a dark, gentle white which wasn't too in your face. Jay had said he left it cream and white so that she could easily alter it and add whatever she wanted - but she didn't want to change a thing. It all just looked completely perfect and Abi couldn't actually believe he'd done it. Of course, she'd gone shopping almost every day since buying everything that they needed.

Stripped back, it was basically a replica of Billy and Lola's. Which made sense seeing as it was next door - which Abi and Lola were both far too excited about. Jay had already joked that Lola might as well move in with Abi whilst he slummed it out with Billy and Peter. He had noted that neither girl argued too much about that suggestion.

"You're sure you like the stuff I bought yesterday?" Abi questioned, admiring the She'd gone shopping the day before with Lola and Tanya, just to get a few finishing touches on the flat. The place now looked like someone actually lived in it."I'm not overdoing it?"

"Babe, between you, Lola and your Mum?" Jay replied and Abi just knew he was about to say something dumb. "I'm honestly surprised IKEA's still standing."

"Oh, shut up," she rolled her eyes, gently nudging him as he sat down next to her. "Seriously though? I just want it to be a **_home_**, you know?"

"Abs, look at this place," Jay sighed, looking around the room. "It's a home; it's _our_ home and it's perfect."

"Well," Abi smiled, biting her lip as she looked down at her bump. "It's **almost** perfect."

"Almost perfect," Jay echoed in agreement. "Are you sure you're up for this party?"

"Oh, it's hardly a party," Abi scoffed. They were having a bit of a house warming get together at the new flat later. Since Abi didn't want a baby shower, she'd let Tanya have her way in the form of a flat-warming party instead. If anyone wanted to bring a gift then they could, but it would feel like they were asking for it. It was just for close family and friends - or at least it was supposed to just be close family and friends.

"Abi, your Mum's invited half the Square," Jay rolled his eyes, "You know what Dexter and Lola are like, too. So they'd probably invited the other half of the Square that your Mum didn't think to invite."

"Well then you better get that cot together in the nursery then," Abi smirked. Jay still hadn't put it together, even though he insisted that he would - especially when Abi teased she sure Peter could do it by himself if Jay didn't think he could.

"Yeah, yeah, Dexter and Peter are coming over. They should be here any minute."

"Seriously? It's going to take three of you to put a cot together?"

"Moral support, babe," Jay defended, raising his hands in mock surrender.

"Having a few beers and talking about football is not moral support," Abi argued mockingly, as there was a knock on the door. "Right, well that's probably them so I'll be at Lola's. Once the cot's together, make sure everything's where it should be in the nursery please?"

"A bit of faith would be nice, you know," Jay replied, helping her up off the sofa as they both stood up. "It'll all be perfect, I promise. Just have a nice afternoon with Lola and Lexi. Don't stress about anything, okay?"

"Okay," Abi smiled, leaning over to give him a quick peck on the lips. "I've told everyone to come about 6ish, but my Mum and Dot are coming over with the food around 4. I should be back by then, but-"

"- Abs, it's fine," Jay laughed. "I've got it all under control, I swear. Just go."

Abi sighed, picking up her back and heading to the door. She let Dexter and Peter inside, greeting them both and throwing Jay a look over her shoulder.

"Behave," she mouthed, getting her reply from her boyfriend in the form of a wink. She rolled her eyes, laughing as she left the flat.

Later that night, their new flat was filled with people. Abi's entire family were there - her parents, Oscar, Lauren, Dot, Cora, Dexter, Carol, David, Sonia, Bianca, Liam and Whitney. Jay'd also invited Phil, Sharon, Ronnie, Roxy, Billy and also Patrick. Obviously, Lola and Peter were there too. Tanya had asked Jane along, and Lucy and Cindy had both tagged with her and Peter. It was only a small flat, so it was a bit of a squeeze to say the least but it was somehow working.

Abi was in the process of getting a drink from a kitchen when she felt a pair of arms snake around her waist. It didn't take a genius to figure out who it was.

"Hi," Jay mumbled against her neck.

"Hi," Abi echoed with a quiet laugh, as she wriggled to turn herself around so that she was facing him. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Jay smiled, letting out a sigh. "Dot wants to know when I'm proposing."

"What, you're going to do that again?" Abi teased, biting her lower lip to stop herself from laughing.

"That's the plan, baby," he smirked. "Unless you'd run off to Costa Rica again.."

"Never," Abi smirked. "You're everything I could ever want. I reckon my Dad would even give us his blessing this time, you know. He's complimented your cot-building skills and everything."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, I didn't tell him it took the three of you almost four hours to figure it out."

"I told you, we were just making sure it was perfect," Jay shrugged, defending himself before leaning down to kiss her. After a moment, Abi raised her hand to his chest and gently pushed him back.

"I'm going to go get some air."

"It was only a kiss, Abs, didn't think I was that powerful" Jay replied with a smirk as he stepped back for her to pass.

"Shut up," she laughed, making her way through the packed living room.

There was still a content grin spread across her face as she got to the front door, but it quickly dropped - along with her heart - as she saw who was on the other side.

Suddenly, Jay was behind her.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jay asked, and Abi swore he should have sounded more surprised.

"Heard congratulations were in order, **_bruv_**."

Abi's hands protectively went straight to her rest on her bump. The last person she expected to be here was Ben _flamin'_ Mitchell.

* * *

><p>Just a reminder that, in this timeline, it's the beginning of April 2014 now! There's only 2 chapters left (3 including the epilogue) left of this story, so I hope anyone reading is still enjoying it! As always, reviews are very much appreciated. :)<p> 


	21. Chapter 21

Ben pushed passed both of them, entering the living room as the entire flat went quiet.

"Nice place you've got here, romantic," Ben mused, before his eyes landed on Phil. "Alright, Dad?"

"Ben," Phil stuttered, clearly unaware that his son was going to make an appearance. "How are you-"

"- Out?" Ben finished the sentence for him. "Been out for a week now. I hate to crash the party, but **_someone_ **wasn't answering my calls."

Ben turned around to look at Jay, who had come back into the living room with Abi. Jay was just glaring at him, as Abi glanced at her boyfriend in confusion.

"Wait, you knew he was out of prison?" Abi asked quietly.

"Ben, I think you should leave," Jay sighed, reaching for the other boy's arm. "Seriously, now's not the time or place for this."

"Yeah, what is this then?" Ben asked, noting all the members of his family in the room. "Family party? How sweet."

"Phil, why don't you get him out of here, yeah?" Max suggested. "Abi's due in two weeks, for crying out loud, she doesn't need this."

"Two weeks? Wow, Jay, you didn't say she was that close to dropping," Ben echoed, turning back to Abi. "You're very quiet over there, Abs. Haven't you missed me?"

"I'm just surprised, that's all," Abi replied, though it was barely above a whisper.

"Yeah, I was pretty surprised when Jay told me you'd got knocked up at seventeen too," Ben said. "Don't think I'll be able to make the christening, sorry."

"Phil, will you get him out of here please?" Lola stood up.

"Oh, was wondering when _you'd_ open your gob," Ben breathed before giving Lola a false smile. "Alright Lo? Where's Lexi?"

Abi watched as all the colour drained out of Lola's face. She couldn't even imagine how her best friend was feeling seeing Ben now. It made Abi herself feel physically sick, and he wasn't the father of her baby.

"Ben.." Jay warned.

"Don't worry, I know when I ain't wanted," Ben laughed, before turning around and heading for the door.

"Ben!" Phil called after his son, following him out the door. He was quickly followed by Sharon, Ronnie and Roxy.

"Lo, you coming?" Billy asked.

"Of course she ain't coming, Billy," Peter scoffed, comfortingly wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders. "Look at the state she's in now!"

"I'll call you when I know what's happening," Billy sighed before leaving.

"Yeah, I think we best get off…" Carol said, giving Bianca and David a nudge.

"Yeah, yeah, thanks for the lovely party," Bianca said as she stood, gesturing to Liam and Whitney to get a move on. Lucy, Cindy, Jane, Patrick, Dot, Cora and Dexter all made their individual excuses and exited at the same time.

"Phil's going to want Lexi back again," Lola mumbled to herself. "I mean, what if Ben wants her?! What am I going to do? I need to go get her from your Dad's, Peter - like, now."

"Okay, okay, come on," Peter sighed, squeezing her hand and placing his free hand on the small of her back. Lola sent an apologetic glance towards Abi as Peter got their coats.

"It's okay, go," Abi smiled reassuringly, as she sat down on the sofa and rubbing her bump.

"Are you okay, darling?" Tanya asked, sitting down next to her.

"Yeah, of course," Abi replied. "Why don't you get Oscar home? It's getting kinda late."

"Are you sure? I can sta-"

"- Tanya, I think she's right," Max interrupted as he picked up Oscar, clearly understanding that Abi wanted to be alone with Jay. "We should leave. You too, Lauren."

Lauren didn't need to be told twice, as she followed Max to the door.

"You call me if you need me," Tanya said as she stood up, and became the last of their guests to leave.

As the door slammed, there was nothing left of their party. How the hell had it all fallen apart in a matter of minutes?

Now it was just the two of them, and Abi wasn't sure she was going to be able to stop herself from crying. She told herself not to over-react, that this wasn't a big deal, that they'd been through worse. A convicted murderer showing up on her doorstep at their flat-warming party two weeks before she was due to give birth wasn't a big deal, right? Right. But when she had a pretty painful, uncomfortable cramp in her stomach, she couldn't think straight.

Jay was quiet too. This was exactly why he hadn't told Abi - or anyone - that Ben was out of prison, or that he was in contact with him. He was scared, for starters. He remembered those few months, keeping the secret about Heather's death. He remembered the weeks that followed, as he was shut out from the entire community and said to be pure evil. He remembered it and he was terrified of it happening again should Ben have returned to Walford. Hence why he'd met him twice this past week; on the day he got out and yesterday, whilst Abi had gone shopping with Lola and Tanya.

He needed Ben to stay away. Him and Abi were at a great place now; she was two weeks away from giving birth to their little girl, she didn't need the stress. They didn't need any more strain on their relationship, and he knew that Ben coming back would strain a lot of things. Like it was doing right now. Even though Abi had forgiven Jay for his part in it, he didn't know how she would react to Ben. He'd been arrested whilst she was in Costa Rica, so she hadn't seen her childhood best friend since before it was revealed he'd killed an innocent woman. He didn't know what that would do to her, and he didn't want to find out until after she'd had the baby.

"Abi…" Jay breathed.

"You knew," she spat, turning to look at him. "You knew he was out of prison?"

"Yes," Jay replied, walking over and sitting down next to her. "He got in touch about two weeks ago, telling me he was getting out. He needed my help, Abs."

"I think you helped him enough when you covered up a murder for him," she argued, immediately regretting it as soon as she said it. "I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"- It's okay," Jay cut in, knowing she didn't mean anything by it. "I know it's a shock, but...it's just _Ben_, babe."

"_Just Ben_?" Abi echoed, raising an eyebrow. "Are you serious? Are you forgetting what he made you do?! Everything that he put you through?"

"No, but…" Jay sighed. "I booked him into a hostel and gave him some money, some clothes, that's it."

"You've seen him _once_?"

"Twice," Jay confessed. "I went to see him last Saturday, when he was released. I went to see him yesterday too."

"Is he the one that called you?" Abi asked. "On Friday morning, just before you told me about the flat?"

"Yes."

"Are you serious?" Abi questioned. "You are unbelievable."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Jay said genuinely. "I just didn't want you to worry. Especially not this close to your due date."

"Oh, right, so you thought I'd freak out a bit less when he showed up on my doorstep in front of my entire family?!"

"I didn't know he was coming back here!" Jay defended himself. "He swore to me that he had no intention of ever coming back."

Abi ran her hands over her face as she let out a deep breath. She couldn't deal with this right now.

"Abi, say something…"

"Jay, you promised me!" She exclaimed, feeling herself getting worked up. "You promised me no more secrets."

"I know and I'm sorry," Jay sighed

"I'm going to bed," Abi said, pushing herself up off the sofa as she tried to keep calm.

"Babe, please don't be mad."

Suddenly, she felt an intense pain in her lower abdomen. She exhaled sharply as she placed her hand where the pain was, and sat back down on the sofa.

"Abi?"

"Abs, are you okay?" Jay immediately asked after a few seconds, reaching for her hand. She didn't answer him, just clenched her eyes shut. "What's the matter? Is it the baby?"

Abi sucked in a breath, before breathing out deeply. She squeezed Jay's hand as she rubbed her bump.

"I'm okay," she breathed, pulling her hand away from him. After a few more seconds, the pain eased down and turned into a dull, uncomfortable ache.

"Are you sure?" Jay asked, unconvinced. "Babe, it might have been a con-"

"-It was just another Braxton Hicks, I'm fine," she interrupted, forcing herself to smile. She refused to believe that pain was what she thought it might have been. "Well, as fine as I can be when a criminal I thought was in prison shows up at my flat."

"Oh, come on, it's just Ben," Jay said softly. "He's my brother!"

"He's not!" Abi shouted. She was far too uncomfortable to be able to have any patience in that moment. "He's not, Jay, he's not your brother and I don't want him anywhere near my baby!"

"Your baby?" Jay raised his eyebrows. "Guess I'm completely irrelevant then."

"Jay, that's not what I meant," Abi sighed, shuffling around to try and get more comfortable. "I just don't trust him."

"But you trust me and that should be good enough," Jay argued. "Ben's learned his lesson, okay? He wouldn't hurt anyone, not again. He definitely wouldn't hurt our baby!"

"Jay, I really don't need this right now.." She sighed, continuing to gently rub her bump. The pain in her

"I know, I'm sorry," He sighed. "Ben begged me not to tell anyone, including Phil. I don't know why he's showed up here now.."

"I don't care, Jay," She whispered through clenched teeth, clearly in pain.

"Abs.." Jay said quietly, dragging out the word as he sat back down on the sofa. "Are you sure that wasn't…?"

"It wasn't a contraction," Abi insisted, shaking her head.

"Okay.." Jay sighed. Before either of them could say anything else, Jay's phone vibrated. He reluctantly pulled it out of his pocket, reading the text.

"Who is it?" Abi asked, as if she didn't already know.

"Ben," He answered. "He wants me to go over to Phil's."

"Off you go then," Abi scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Abi.."

"No, Jay, it's fine," she shrugged. "You want to go back to playing the Mitchell lapdog, then go right ahead. I just thought you had other priorities now."

"You're my priority," Jay insisted, reaching for her hand again. "You and our daughter. That's all I care about. I was just trying to be a mate to Ben, help him get back on his feet."

"By giving him money?" Abi noted. "Money that you should be saving for our daughter."

"It was a hundred quid, just to get him through the week," Jay scoffed. "I know I should have asked you first."

"Yeah, you should have," Abi rolled her eyes. "Anything else you want to tell me now? Or should I just wait patiently for the next bombshell to come walking through the door?"

"There's nothing, I swear," Jay replied, just as his phone started ringing.

"Oh, just go over there," Abi sighed, causing Jay to look at her cautiously. "I don't mind, I promise. Just go see him."

"No, don't be daft," Jay hung up, switching his phone off and chucking it on the coffee table in front of them. "He's a big boy, I'm sure he can cope with Phil on his own."

"Okay," Abi smiled, as she stood up and moved towards the kitchen. As she did so, another throbbing pain shot through her stomach. This time, it was pure agony. She let out a loud cry in pain, as she gripped the kitchen table for support.

"**_Abi_**!?" Jay cried in a panic, jumping from the sofa and rushing over to her. He gently grabbed hold of her so that she could lean over on him, as he rubbed her back. "Are you okay?!"

"Do I _look_ okay, Jay?!" She screamed, her hand moving to her bump as she desperately gasped for air. Suddenly, she felt a small gush of wetness between her legs.

"Abs, talk to me," Jay pleaded.

"I'm pretty sure my waters just broke," Abi cried.

"What?!" Jay practically shrieked. "You're in labour?! Oh my God, _you're in labour_!"

"Oh, thank you so much for that _**wonderful** _observation, Jay," Abi seethed, sarcastically. "What would I do without you, hey?!"

"Alright, just sit down, look," Jay suggested, helping onto her the chair. Abi took another deep breath as she stroked her baby bump, feeling the pain from the contraction easing down and trying not to panic. She'd been to the antenatal classes, she'd read all the books, binge-watched One Born Every Minute several times….She knew what she was doing, everything was going to be fine. But it suddenly didn't feel that way at all.

"Jay, I'm scared," she confessed, as he kneeled down in front of her.

"It's okay, babe, it's okay," Jay reassured her comfortingly, rubbing her arm.

"No, no, I'm not ready," Abi cried, shaking her head as she glanced down at her bump.

"Yes, you are," Jay insisted with a gentle smile, lifting her chin with his hand to force her to look at him. "It's time to go have a baby."

* * *

><p>Super quick update, but the next chapter's the very last one! As always, reviews are appreciated. :)<p> 


	22. Chapter 22

"Okay, Abi, this is the big one," the midwife said. "When the next contraction comes, I need you to give me one last push, okay?"

Abi was exhausted. She was genuinely, physically exhausted and her entire body was in more pain than she'd even realized was possible. It was now 4am, and Abi was finally at the final stage of her labour. After pushing for almost an hour, she felt like she was going to self-destruct any minute now. Thank God for gas and air.

After her waters had broke, Abi didn't want to go straight to the hospital. She'd read that labour would probably take ages, especially since it was her first baby. So, Jay had let her have her way and they waited an hour and a half before the contractions started to get too intense for her to handle on her own at home. They left the flat at half past ten, and now it was 4am, and things were finally moving along nicely. Max and Tanya were waiting outside in the hall, as they'd given them a lift to the hospital as they'd planned. Abi had told them they could go home if they wanted to, with Jay promising to keep them updated, but they'd both refused to go anywhere.

"Come on, baby, you heard that," Jay put on his best positive voice, as he rubbed her back with his free hand. His other hand was a bit busy being crushed to death by Abi, but Jay didn't think he was in much of a position to be complaining at that moment in time. "One more push, baby, come on, just one more."

Abi did as she was told, willing for this all to be over already. She let out out a loud scream in agony, clenching her eyes shut as she forced herself to push with all the energy that she had in her.

She continued to push, gripping Jay's hand tightly as she felt him still rubbing her back. She'd never been in so much pain in all her life, but suddenly, it was all over and a few seconds later, a piercing cry filled the maternity room.

And it was the most beautiful sound either of them had ever heard. It was their baby girl.

"Oh my God," Jay breathed, watching on in pure amazement as the midwife rushed to wrap the baby up. He quickly leaned over to Abi, kissing the top of her head "You did it, Abs, you did it."

The midwife immediately passed the baby over to Abi, who took her in her arms. She was the most stunning little thing that both Jay and Abi had ever seen. She had a head full of strawberry blonde hair, exactly how Abi's used to be. She opened her eyes, her beautiful blue eyes, and Abi simply burst into tears.

"Hi, baby," she said quietly, with a smile. She let out a laugh in disbelief, before glancing up at Jay, who also looked like he was going to burst into tears any second. Instead he just laughed, his hand moving to the top of the baby's head.

"Hey, baby girl," Jay whispered, his voice cracking slightly. Everything he'd ever wanted was sat right in front of him - he had the right to get a little over emotional. "We're your Mummy and Daddy."

Abi grinned up at him, and he leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the lips. They both smiled as they looked back down at the beautiful, perfect little baby who was currently screaming bloody murder in Abi's arms.

"I'm so proud of you," Jay cried, giving her another kiss before pulling her towards him as they both looked down on the little human being who relied completely on the two of them.

* * *

><p>"Oh, you guys, she's so beautiful," Lola cooed, smiling down at the baby in her arms.<p>

"She really is," Dexter added, reaching over to gently touch her little hand. "Reckon she gets her looks from you, cuz, 'cause there's no way Jay's genes made something this beautiful."

"Oi, watch it," Jay laughed, before winking at Abi.

"It was a team effort, I'll have you know," Abi smiled, glancing up at the father of her daughter.

"Ugh, say no more, please," Dexter quickly said, shaking his head.

"Shut up, Dext," Lola scolded him, scoffing. "Lexi wanted to come see her, but I didn't want to crowd you guys too much."

"Oh, you could have brought her with you," Abi replied.

"No, she can meet her when you come home," Lola said. "When are you going to come home?"

"As soon as my Dad comes back with the car," Abi answered. "It's been a few years since he's fitted a car seat, but I'm sure he'll figure it out soon enough."

It was 1pm now, and their little girl (or _Baby Brown_, as she was known on the ward) was barely 8 hours old. Abi was absolutely knackered, so was Jay, but they'd luckily managed to get some sleep in the few hours that they'd had. Not much, but some. Max and Tanya had only stayed for about 20 minutes after Abi gave birth. They'd seen the baby, had a litlte fuss (and a cry), and then left Abi to get some rest. They were on their way back now to pick them up.

"Don't they keep you in overnight or anything?" Dexter asked.

"Technically, I was in overnight whilst giving birth," Abi laughed. "But, no the midwife checked her over and everything's fine so they said I can leave whenever I'm ready."

"Yeah, and since _someone's_ not a big fan of hospitals," Jay smirked, making Abi roll her eyes. "She's been ready since the minute she gave birth."

"Well, this is when the hard stuff starts, you know?" Lola smiled down at the sleeping baby. "She might look all innocent and sweet now, but wait until she wakes up and decides Mummy doesn't need any sleep."

"Thanks, Lo," Abi replied sarcastically, before glancing up at Jay with a teasing smirk. "Jay's on the night shift tonight anyway, isn't that right?"

"Yep," Jay popped the 'p', practically proudly announcing the fact that he had a night shift.

They all laughed, just as Max and Tanya walked through the door.

"How's my favourite granddaughter?" Max asked immediately, heading towards Lola, who was still holding her.

"She's your _only_ granddaughter, unless Lauren has something to tell us," Jay teased.

"Jay," Abi scolded, biting back a laugh.

"Oi," Max replied playfully.

"We all ready to get this little one home then?" Tanya asked, as she also went over to admire the new arrival.

"Yes, **_please_**," Abi sighed, climbing out of the bed. She was aching a bit, but the painkillers the midwife had given her were something else. Instinctively, she went to reach for her bump until she realized it wasn't there anymore. She kind of missed it, actually - but she had something so much better now.

She watched on fondly as Jay walked over to take their daughter from Lola.

"Come on, baby girl, there we go," Jay said quietly, as he gently took her from Lola's hold and into his arms. The baby barely murmured as she recognized her Daddy. He was already a natural – a fact that surprised absolutely nobody, least of all Abi.

* * *

><p>A few hours later, they were back at the flat.<p>

The poor child wasn't even a day old and she'd been passed around more than a parcel. It was understandable though; she was completely perfect and everyone wanted to have a hold. Dot, Cora, Carol, and Whitney had all been over to see the new baby already. Right now, it was just Lauren - and Jay and Abi, of course. Jay was putting some things away in the nursery, whilst Abi and Lauren were sat on the sofa with the baby.

"Oh, she's so adorable," Lauren cooed, looking down at the little girl in her arms.

"Yeah, she is," Abi laughed, as her phone vibrated.

"Who's that?" Lauren asked.

"Oh, yeah, just Lola," Abi shrugged. "Wants to know if it's okay for her and Peter to come over."

"What, now?" Lauren asked, almost nervously.

"Yeah," Abi frowned.

"Oh, well," Lauren breathed, moving to pass the baby back to Abi. "I'll get out of your hair then."

"What? Don't be stupid, you don't have to go," Abi argued, as she settled the baby back down in her arms. "It's just Lola and Pet-"

Lauren glanced up guiltily when Abi stopped talking midway through her sentence, knowing her sister had come to the realization.

"Why are you avoiding Peter?" Abi asked warily, keeping her voice down to avoid Jay hearing her from the nursery. "Please don't tell me something's happened between you two."

"Look, we didn't plan it.." Lauren replied, hesitantly.

"Lauren! You _slept_ with him?" Abi questioned, sighing when Lauren nodded. "Are you serious? He's with Lola!"

"You think I don't know that?" Lauren sighed, placing her elbows onto her knees and putting her face in her hands. It was quiet for a few seconds before she looked at Abi again, with a hint of a sad smile. "But...I still love him, Abs, and he still loves me."

"Oh, lovely, so where does that leave Lola?" Abi questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know, we haven't really talked about it. But he doesn't want to hurt her, neither of us do."

"So, when did this happen?"

"Last week."

"Oh, Lauren.."

"I know," Lauren breathed. "I know, okay? You don't need to tell me how awful I am."

"You're not awful," Abi sighed. "But you need to talk to Peter. He needs to tell Lola the truth."

Lauren nodded, and went to reply but was interrupted by Jay coming out of the nursery.

"What are you two whispering about?" He immediately questioned as he walked over.

"Nothing," Abi answered instantly with a smile, before standing up. "Can you take her a second please?"

"Yeah," Jay said, more than happily taking the baby out of her arms as there was a knock on the front door.

"Oh, that'll be Lola and Peter," Abi announced, casting a warning look over her shoulder to Lauren as she went to answer it.

"Hey," Abi greeted as she answered the door to Lola and Billy. Lola had Lexi in her arms, and didn't look too happy. "Where's Peter?"

"Don't get me started," Lola replied under her breath as she entered, with Billy greeting Abi as he followed his granddaughter into the flat.

"Ooh, wait for us!" Abi turned to see her parents and Oscar coming down the street towards them, as she let out a laugh.

"I thought you weren't coming back over until tonight?" Abi questioned as they reached the front door.

"We weren't, but someone wanted to come meet his little niece," Tanya explained as she glanced down at Oscar, who smiled innocently.

"Oh good, because I think someone else wants to meet her Uncle Oscar," Abi encouraged, stepping back with a laugh as Oscar eagerly pushed past her. Tanya and Max came through, and Abi shut the door behind them. Lola was sitting on the sofa with Lexi on her lap, leaving space for Max and Tanya to sit down next to her, whilst Abi noted how Lauren was stood on the other side of the room.

"So, have you two decided on a name yet?" Billy asked, as he admired the baby girl in Jay's arms.

"Actually, we have," Abi replied as she stood next to Jay, giving him a smile to prompt him.

"Yeah," Jay said, smiling at her before facing everyone else. "We'd like you all to meet… Olivia."

The room filled with "aw"s at Jay's proud announcement, as Jay and Abi smiled at one another.

"Olivia," Max echoed. "You know, I think that really suits her."

"It's beautiful, just like her," Lola added.

"Yeah, Olivia Karen Brown," Abi said with a grin.

"- Karen after my Mum," Jay informed them.

"That's really lovely," Billy said. "She's one lucky little girl."

"Yeah, she is," Tanya agreed.

* * *

><p>Later that night, Jay and Abi were putting Olivia in in bed. She'd been cleaned, and fed, and was sleeping peacefully once more. They weren't putting her in the nursery yet, instead they'd decided to have her cot in their bedroom to start off with.<p>

"Well, I think that's Day One over and done with," Jay smiled, looking down on the sleeping baby.

"Yeah, you can get excited once **_Night_ **One is over," Abi teased, running a hand over her face. She was already exhausted - considering she'd spent most of the night before in labour, and had barely any proper sleep since, she was already exhausted.

"True," Jay laughed.

"She'll be okay like this, won't she?" Abi asked, not tearing her eyes away from Olivia.

"Yeah, of course she will," Jay replied. "Abs, I've double checked everything and then double checked everything again. And we're literally right next to her. She'll be fine, I promise."

"Okay," Abi sighed, which turned into a yawn. She stole one more look at Olivia before turning and moving to get into bed. "We should probably get some sleep before she wakes up then, huh?"

"Mm, I won't argue with that," Jay chuckled, as did exactly the same as her.

"I love you," Abi whispered, as she got comfy on his chest and he wrapped his arm around her.

"I love you too," Jay replied, placing a kiss against her head. As he looked over at the cot, and pulled the blankets over him and Abi, he couldn't quite believe that he actually had everything that he had ever wanted.

They **both** had everything they had ever wanted.

* * *

><p><strong><em>...5 years later (2019)...<em>**

"But he doesn't _do_ anything, Daddy!"

"He's a day old, Liv, he's not supposed to do anything," Jay explained gently with a chuckle, bouncing the little girl on his knee.

"Nothing? **_At all_**?" Olivia questioned, bemusedly.

"He eats, and sleeps, and he goes to the toilet.." Jay replied.

"Well that's boring," Olivia sighed, flicking her long strawberry-blonde hair over her shoulder as she jumped off her Dad's knee. "When's Auntie Lola going to be here?"

"She won't be long," Jay answered. It never failed to amazing how quickly his daughter could change the subject when it was something she wasn't interested in, yet she could go on for hours about how good she'd be looking after a puppy. She was her Mother's daughter, that he was definitely sure of.

"You know, you don't _have_ to go to ballet today.." Abi mused teasingly, as she came into the living room. "You could stay here with your new baby brother, if you really wanted to."

"No way, Mum, I'm not missing ballet just to watch him sleep," Olivia shook her head, as she was actually offended by the idea.

"Fair enough," Abi laughed, as there was a knock on the door. "There, that's probably Auntie Lola and Lexi now."

"Finally," Olivia sighed, following Abi as she went to answer the door.

They now lived a few doors down from Abi's childhood home, in the flat beneath Stacey and Martin. They'd had to think about moving when they'd found out Abi was pregnant again, as the flat they'd lived in for the past five years was enough of a squeeze with just the three of them, never mind another baby. Jay now co-owned the Arches with Phil, and he also had shares in the car lot with Max. So, he was actually making quite a bit of money now. Abi was a receptionist at a local vets - it wasn't what she'd always dreamt of, but she liked it. She'd gone back to college when Olivia was 1 and a half, and she'd got her A Levels, but she'd eventually decided against going to university. She just had other priorities, and it actually really didn't bother her at all. She had everything that she wanted without a degree.

"Morning, Mrs Brown," Lola chirped happily as Abi swung the door open, and Lexi ran straight in. "Lexi!"

"I want to see the baby!" Lexi declared.

"You don't, he doesn't do anything," Olivia whispered, as if Abi and Lola weren't standing right there, before running into the living room with Lexi.

"I always told you those two would be trouble together," Lola rolled her eyes, before turning to Abi. "How you feeling?"

"Good," Abi sighed, before letting out a laugh. "Tired. **_Very_ **tired."

"You fancy telling Dexter that two kids is an absolute nightmare?" Lola asked teasingly. "Maybe then he'll be a bit more patient."

"You got pregnant easy enough the first time, Lo, I'm sure you'll have a Mini-Dexter running around the place in no time," Abi smirked.

"At least the _getting pregnant_ is a lot more fun this time," Lola said, mirroring the smirk.

"Oh, that's disgusting," Abi said scrunching her nose up, as she walked into the living room with Lola behind her. "I know you've only been married for three months so you're still in the honeymoon period or whatever, but I don't need to hear about it."

"Speaking of honeymoons, you heard from your sister and new brother in law?"Lola said quietly, as she walked over to admire the sleeping baby boy in the moses basket. "Coming home today, aren't they? Bet Lauren can't wait to meet this little cutie pie."

"Yep," Abi popped the 'p'. "They should be on the flight now, actually. I think Mum and Dad are pleased, after having Louis for an entire week."

"Yeah, boys get out of control at two apparently," Jay smirked, hinting that their new baby boy would follow in his cousin Louis' footsteps and become a hyper little devil.

"Mm, but Connor is going to be an absolute _angel_," Abi replied, raising her eyebrows matter of factly.

"He definitely looks the part," Lola smiled, before gasping as if she'd remembered something. "Oh, did you two know about Ben and that Paul Coker fella?!"

"I didn't, no," Abi replied, before glancing at Jay to indicate that he had.

"What? He's my brother, he tells me this stuff," Jay shrugged.

"At least he's finally moved on from Johnny," Lola said.

"Yeah, that's true. I thought he was going to moping over him forever," Abi agreed as she folded her arms across her chest.

"I think everyone did," Lola said, before turning to Lexi and Olivia. "Girls, you ready?"

"Yep!" They both replied simultaneously, as they ran over to Lola.

"Be good, Liv," Abi warned, not getting a reply at first. "**_Olivia_**, I said be good."

"Yes, Mum," Olivia groaned in surrender before blowing a kiss to Jay and running out of the room, making Abi roll her eyes.

"I swear that girl's five going on fifteen," Abi smirked.

"Mum, hurry up! We're going to be late," Lexi said, pulling on Lola's arm.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Lola sighed. "I'll see you guys later."

"Thanks, Lo," Abi smiled, as her best friend left the flat with the two young girls. Abi let out a breath, going to sit next to her husband on the sofa and cuddling into his side like she always did. Even after being together for 8 years, married for 2 years, they were still genuinely happy just being together. Neither of them said anything, instead just enjoying the quiet as they both loving watched their son sleeping peacefully.

"You know, you don't realize how loud our daughter is until she's not there," Jay laughed, after a minute.

"Yeah," Abi giggled, before gesturing to baby Connor. "Do you reckon this one will be a bit quieter?"

"Doubt he'll have much choice with his motormouth of a sister around 24/7, poor lad," Jay teased.

"Jay," Abi bit back a smile as she poked his chest gently, making him laugh more. "You know she's still going on about a puppy?"

"Several times," Jay confirmed. "It's better than when she wanted a pony and a sea turtle, I guess."

"I honestly have **_no idea_** where she gets it from," Abi smirked.

"No, me neither," Jay replied, sarcastically. "Why can't she just want a goldfish?"

"Because _that's_ too easy," Abi suggested. "At least she's okay with not getting a sister now."

"She **still** wants a sister," Jay smirked.

"Well, she can wait a few more years for that," Abi laughed. "She'll just have to deal with no puppy and a brother for now."

"Yeah," Jay agreed, before sighing in content. "Connor Bradley Jase Brown and Olivia Karen Brown. What a mouthful, hey?"

"I think it's perfect," Abi smiled, leaning over to kiss him.

"You've made me so happy, you know that?" Jay smiled against her lips, his hand moving to cup the side of her face. "You've made me the happiest man on the planet, Abs."

"Yeah, you make me pretty happy too," Abi laughed, biting her lip.

She wrapped her arms around his waist as he lifted his arm around her shoulders and pulled her even closer to him. They may not have been perfect - they weren't a perfect couple, they were far from being perfect parents, but they were **them**. They were Jay and Abi, Abi and Jay. That's all they ever had been and all they ever would be.

* * *

><p>So, Baby Blues is officially complete! Just a quick thank you to everyone who's read, favourited, followed and reviewed this story over the past year! I hope you've all enjoyed reading it as much as I've loved writing it!<p> 


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